Hello All!
Greetings from New Zealand! This relatively brief email update breaks my prolonged email dispatch silence. The last six months have literally been a whirlwind of intense and at sometimes stressful study, research, editing, drawing, photography, writing, exhibiting work, graduating and most recently traveling. The last segment of the course was full of deadlines related to my thesis, our two exhibitions (one at the college and one in the nearby city of Bristol) and the work therein. I ended up doing an installation of my thought drawings, as well as continuing with my collaboration with Anna Keleher, which included a film installation of our Approaching an Exchange: Dartmoor project and a semi-choreographed walk on Dartmoor continuing our exploration there (which included harnessing the power of walking to churn butter!). These months were fruitful and quite simply full to bursting with learning, but also very stressful with seemingly too much to do in too few days. I have yet to update my website with recent work from the exhibitions, but keep an eye on www.clairelongarts.com. It will be updated soon.
Overall I was pleased with the course and the rich experiences and personal connections that came from it. My art practice, scholarly pursuits and general life trajectory was shaped and particular interests revealed and illuminated by the course and the time to reflect on what is important to me in life. It was a very concentrated year and I have many strands to pick-up and pursue further now in our travels and when we return to NM in the spring. Despite the amazing environments that I have experienced this past year, I have missed the high desert mountain environment with all of its ups and its downs. I am eager to settle into one place and make it home, although at the same time, conferences and residencies are already beckoning!
Since the finish of the course, Chris joined me and we managed to hitch up to Glastonbury, the Lake District, Scotland out to the Isle of Mull and Iona and then back down through England for the graduation ceremony. For the most part we had excellent weather and good fortune with hitching. We met some wonderful people and poked out heads into some very interesting worlds. People were very generous with us. Only on one occasion did we feel uncomfortable after accepting a ride. And only once did we get stranded and had to walk into a strange industrial estate to find a train to get us on our way.....the Scottish highlands are amazing and the Scots are wonderful folks. We briefly returned to Devon for my graduation, and to say final goodbyes to dear friends. We then headed to Ireland for 11 days, into Dublin and the Southwest. We thoroughly enjoyed Dublin (despite the rocous location of our hostel smack dab in the middle of Temple Bar), where we walked all over the city taking in sites, museums and guinness. We made our way around with a combination of hitching and buses. We spent 3 nights at the hostel at Dzogchen Beara, a Buddhist center on the Beara pensinsula, perched on a cliff overlooking the sea. Long walks and a little volunteering went a long way to slow our pace and relax into the environment. We spent Thanksgiving in a pub on the Dingle peninsula and didn't realize what day it was until one of the musicians pointed it out. We rode bikes along the dingle peninsula, enjoying the rapidly moving weather and stops along the way for ancient forts and beehive huts.
So now, I am writing to you from Waiheke Island, where we landed when we arrived, and where my dear friend from younger years, Gabrielle, has taken us in and under her wing into her exciting island world. We have been relaxing, eating well, frequenting the beach, attending island parties and generally living "the good island life." Our first impressions of Aotearoa (New Zealand) are wonderful!
We are off tomorrow for some adventuring in Coramandel, a peninsula across the bay from Aukland, which is well known in the area for it's natural beauty. We will be exploring a hot water beach, hiking walking and hitching around the peninsula. We will be back here on the island for the holidays, where we have a house sitting job until the middle of January. We have had our feelers out for temporary under the table work opportunities as well. Some little jobs are surfacing, so hopefully we can make a few kiwi dollars before we head to the south island in late January and February for more exploring. We hear such amazing descriptions of the South Island - we can't wait!
It is strange being in the Southern Hemisphere for the holidays. The capitalist rush seems much less here and the seasonal spirit is one of general vacationing and partying, as the summer holidays coincide with the Christmas holiday.
Although traditional Christmas trees are for sale, my favorite is the pahutakawa, a native evergreen, which puts on an incredible display of red flowers at this time of year; a festive plant.
We would love to hear what you are doing these days. Early holiday wishes to you from both Chris and I from down-under!
Warmly,
Claire
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Email Dispatch #7 August 6, 2008
Dear All,
Although, today it was again a gray Devon Day, christened with the unique Devon drizzle, it has truly been summer on and off the last few days, enticing me out onto the grass in shorts and sandals. Even the Dart River has been inviting me to swim in her as I ride by on bike to college. But, the seasons are strange here. They are finicky; accept for the amount and color of the foliage on the trees, they seem to resemble one another. We are past the stage of fresh spring green with little curious leaves coming out to meet the world, timidly at first and then with gusto. The time for delicacy is past. Now is it tall grass, thick weeds, less dappled sun in the woods. The thickness of the foliage is stunning. I am coming to know "green" in a new way.
Today, while scavenging in the woodlands of the Dartington estate for birch wood to carve into some small pieces for a project, I stumbled across a stand of planted cherry trees, so thick and close that the canopy closed over me, allowing almost nothing to grow below. I miss my relationship with blue sky, all sky. When the clouds are right here for a bit of color at sunset, it is cause for celebration; I feel like a sunset snob, accustomed to the intensity of the high desert colors at dusk.
Lots of nice things (and people) have come and gone since my last dispatch. The journey to Helsinki in April was incredible. I am still processing all the material that was generated from that journey.....It took 17 days and was chalk full of the unexpected, the bizarre, the surreal, the beautiful..... Amazing how wandering and following one's nose with some fabulous companions can lead to such wonderful adventures and places. You can read about some of those adventures and places and journal entries at my blog site: http://tortugatracks.blogspot.com/. And although I sent the announcement about the radio show to most of you, you can now see more of the project documentation and listen to the radio show that we made from the journey, "How Far From Home Are we?" at http://journey.uber.com.
I had a wonderful visit with my family who came for my birthday at the end of May through the 2nd week of June. It was such fun to enfold them in the world here that has enfolded me and introduce them to people and places that have been important parts of my experience here. As well as a nice visit here in Totnes they all managed to get a bit traveling in as well - Joan went to Paris and Barcelona and my parents journeyed around the UK and Scotland by train. Showing them some of my favorite places made me realize how accustomed I've become to life here. While there are still things about British culture, accents, the countryside, and the incredibly old architecture that still stun and astonish me, in general the heightened awareness and eye for novelty of a new-comer has begun to ware off. It's an interesting process to witness and experience this familiarization. I have begun to feel the transition from transplant to resident. For me it's taken almost a year, but never the less it happening.
On the academic front, I am in the thick of writing my dissertation and implementing my final project(s). I am still working with Anna Keleher on Dartmoor expanding "the Exchange" project that we started in February. And it is morphing and growing everyday. We are spending lots of time doing experimentation on the moor and taking people up to participate in the exchange. I crave this time outside in the fresh air, away from the computer screen and the confines of four walls. I am also working towards installing a series of drawings that I've been working on through out the year. They are "daily thought drawings" of which I do one everyday. I will be installing them along with a participatory component for the MA Platform in September.
For my dissertation I am delving into story and narrative, which seemed to naturally spring from my on-going investigation into interdependence and relationships formed and voiced between people, places, animals and things. I am interested in how the retelling of stories gives access to meanings, histories, contexts, relationships, and times that would disappear without this retelling and reverberation. I am finding that stories are portals into other worlds, places, each other, the past, the future and ourselves. I have come to realize that this is a theme that runs through all of my diverse areas of interest (art, anthropology, politics, activism, spirituality etc.). I am excited to have figured our a way to bring this interest comfortably into my academic life in an expansive way that does not undermine its creative potential and important role in the rest of my life. I am thoroughly enjoying the research and although I am still struggling with the writing, I know I will hit my stride soon and feel the momentum as the deadlines approach.
On another note, I am becoming keenly aware of how quickly this year of my MA is drawing to a close. I just learned that my official graduation will take place on November 15th in the 14th Century Great Hall at Dartington, dark formal robes and all, bringing into focus that final step. Between my final show in Oct. and the graduation date, Chris and I are hoping to take in the British Isles as much as we can. And then, with the Harry Potterish graduation over and done, head off on the rest of our travels.....destinations yet to be confirmed, but hopefully including New Zealand. And then a return to the U.S., to face reality and our less than promising economy. The economy has certainly changed here since I arrived and people are tightening their belts as well, but it sounds like things are really changing and very challenging in the U.S. How are you bearing up under these changes?
I would love to hear from you and know how life is for you in your corner of the globe. And any response that you feel up to making to my questionnaire will be received with much gratitude!
Much love,
Claire
Although, today it was again a gray Devon Day, christened with the unique Devon drizzle, it has truly been summer on and off the last few days, enticing me out onto the grass in shorts and sandals. Even the Dart River has been inviting me to swim in her as I ride by on bike to college. But, the seasons are strange here. They are finicky; accept for the amount and color of the foliage on the trees, they seem to resemble one another. We are past the stage of fresh spring green with little curious leaves coming out to meet the world, timidly at first and then with gusto. The time for delicacy is past. Now is it tall grass, thick weeds, less dappled sun in the woods. The thickness of the foliage is stunning. I am coming to know "green" in a new way.
Today, while scavenging in the woodlands of the Dartington estate for birch wood to carve into some small pieces for a project, I stumbled across a stand of planted cherry trees, so thick and close that the canopy closed over me, allowing almost nothing to grow below. I miss my relationship with blue sky, all sky. When the clouds are right here for a bit of color at sunset, it is cause for celebration; I feel like a sunset snob, accustomed to the intensity of the high desert colors at dusk.
Lots of nice things (and people) have come and gone since my last dispatch. The journey to Helsinki in April was incredible. I am still processing all the material that was generated from that journey.....It took 17 days and was chalk full of the unexpected, the bizarre, the surreal, the beautiful..... Amazing how wandering and following one's nose with some fabulous companions can lead to such wonderful adventures and places. You can read about some of those adventures and places and journal entries at my blog site: http://tortugatracks.blogspot.com/. And although I sent the announcement about the radio show to most of you, you can now see more of the project documentation and listen to the radio show that we made from the journey, "How Far From Home Are we?" at http://journey.uber.com.
I had a wonderful visit with my family who came for my birthday at the end of May through the 2nd week of June. It was such fun to enfold them in the world here that has enfolded me and introduce them to people and places that have been important parts of my experience here. As well as a nice visit here in Totnes they all managed to get a bit traveling in as well - Joan went to Paris and Barcelona and my parents journeyed around the UK and Scotland by train. Showing them some of my favorite places made me realize how accustomed I've become to life here. While there are still things about British culture, accents, the countryside, and the incredibly old architecture that still stun and astonish me, in general the heightened awareness and eye for novelty of a new-comer has begun to ware off. It's an interesting process to witness and experience this familiarization. I have begun to feel the transition from transplant to resident. For me it's taken almost a year, but never the less it happening.
On the academic front, I am in the thick of writing my dissertation and implementing my final project(s). I am still working with Anna Keleher on Dartmoor expanding "the Exchange" project that we started in February. And it is morphing and growing everyday. We are spending lots of time doing experimentation on the moor and taking people up to participate in the exchange. I crave this time outside in the fresh air, away from the computer screen and the confines of four walls. I am also working towards installing a series of drawings that I've been working on through out the year. They are "daily thought drawings" of which I do one everyday. I will be installing them along with a participatory component for the MA Platform in September.
For my dissertation I am delving into story and narrative, which seemed to naturally spring from my on-going investigation into interdependence and relationships formed and voiced between people, places, animals and things. I am interested in how the retelling of stories gives access to meanings, histories, contexts, relationships, and times that would disappear without this retelling and reverberation. I am finding that stories are portals into other worlds, places, each other, the past, the future and ourselves. I have come to realize that this is a theme that runs through all of my diverse areas of interest (art, anthropology, politics, activism, spirituality etc.). I am excited to have figured our a way to bring this interest comfortably into my academic life in an expansive way that does not undermine its creative potential and important role in the rest of my life. I am thoroughly enjoying the research and although I am still struggling with the writing, I know I will hit my stride soon and feel the momentum as the deadlines approach.
On another note, I am becoming keenly aware of how quickly this year of my MA is drawing to a close. I just learned that my official graduation will take place on November 15th in the 14th Century Great Hall at Dartington, dark formal robes and all, bringing into focus that final step. Between my final show in Oct. and the graduation date, Chris and I are hoping to take in the British Isles as much as we can. And then, with the Harry Potterish graduation over and done, head off on the rest of our travels.....destinations yet to be confirmed, but hopefully including New Zealand. And then a return to the U.S., to face reality and our less than promising economy. The economy has certainly changed here since I arrived and people are tightening their belts as well, but it sounds like things are really changing and very challenging in the U.S. How are you bearing up under these changes?
I would love to hear from you and know how life is for you in your corner of the globe. And any response that you feel up to making to my questionnaire will be received with much gratitude!
Much love,
Claire
Email Dispatch #6 April 6, 2008
Dear All,
Happy Spring! Since my last dispatch the sun has come back and I have come out of hibernation. My body, sensing the change of seasons seems to need less sleep. It's a striking difference here, more so than any place I've ever been and fortunate too as life seems to be speeding up with the warmer, brighter weather.
While the first snow drops and crocuses were beginning to come out en mass my second project on Psychological Aesthetics and Ecology of the Mind was evaluated. Among other side projects (such as my daily thought drawings, automatic writing etc.), I worked with Anna, my fellow classmate again on Dartmoor National park. But this time we chose to work primarily with sound. Through experimentation with sound and conversation we created a participatory piece based on a Bronze Age settlement at the confluence of two rivers, what we call the Avon Dam settlement. Participansts listened on headphones to our sound pieces on the journey by car to and from the site, offering preparation and follow-up to the experience at the site itself. We provided pens for people and asked them to write or illustrate on the car windows the ideas from the sound pieces that stood out for them. We drove as close to the site as we could and then continued the rest of the way on foot in silence. In response to our invitation people brought items or ideas to share and "exchange" with the Bronze people who once lived there. Although it was a stretch for some people, the conversations that emerged from this exchange revealed a great deal about a multitude of things, identity, our assumptions about the past, time preoccupations, and the layering of stories about the past. It was a successful project I think, based on our experiences as creators and facilitators as well as those described to us by participants. It offered me a tremendous opportunity for growth. I learned the basics of sound collection and editing; basics of relational aestheics, and coordinating a journey to a site as an experiential art piece. I will create a little documentation DVD from the project which will become available at some point in the near future.
After just a few days rest and a weekend camping in Cornwall I plunged into the next module intensive on Social Ecologies. The material that we were offered was rich and very relevant to the project that emerged from the previous module. It is addressed issues of social engagment, conversation as an art practice, action research methodologies and questions about how to integrate activism and art. We were joined by two members of Platform, a London based arts collective (http://www.platformlondon.org/) I've always been stymied by addressing myself. It's great!
Chris was here until the end of March and we had a splendid visit; we even had fun on the trip to London to the airport despite our sweetly sorrowful parting . While in London we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum and after Chris left I went to the Tate Britain. Both were overwhelmingly abundant with amazing works and incredible craftsmanship. At the Tate I came across an excellent William Blake exhibit. See his work in person made an impression om me, as he has become a sort of icon to me. His images have such a strong sense of the organic despite their often mythological subject matter. It was wonderful having him here, despite my absorption in my course work towards the end of the visit. He was (and now is from afar!) very supportive and understanding. At the beginning of the year we had more time to explore the area, take walks and discover fun new places. He found good work here as a carpenter and had steady work for most of his visit. I think he really enjoying his time here, getting to the know the place and it's people over the course of three months. By the end of his visit he knew many more people than I know and he did it in only half the time that I've had.
When I got back from London, I lept into action for our MA Arts and Ecology show at the Center for Contemporary Art in the Natural World (CCANW http://www.ccanw.co.uk/). I assisted in the curating process and it was an incredible learning experience. Having invested a great deal of time and effort into the show, it was very satisfying to have it turn out so well. I was very pleased and impressed with people's work. The opening for the show yesterday was well attended and accompanied by lovely blue skies and puffy white clouds, a treat to behold in this climate! I was grateful for the opportunity to show work there and be involved in bringing the show into form. The venue is a lovely spot in one of the few forests in this area. It is a plantation forest, but still evokes the mystery and environmental solitude created by tall trees and mossy ground.
NOW - today infact, Becky and Anna (fellow students) and Anna's husband Mark and I are setting out on an adventure by Land and Sea to Helsinki, Finland for an Art and Ecology conference. The conference is quite exciting, but the journey is now the highlight of the experience with the destination, merely the instigation for the trip. We will be driving through Holland, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia on the journey their. On the homeward journey we will be driving back through Scandinavia through Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark and Holland. In total the mileage is a little more than driving across the united states, however we will be going through at least 9 different countries along the way. We will take two and a half weeks for the adventure and plan to create artwork along the way. The Dartington Radio station has asked me to make some sound pieces/radio shows from the journey, so my sound recorder will be at my side for most of the journey. It should be quite an adventure!
Having reached the halfway mark on the course, I am beginning to look more seriously at what to do upon its conclusion. I've had some ideas, but they are still in the incubator and have yet to become concrete enough to describe with coherence. I will let you know when they have started to take form. Chris will be on the helitak fire crew in Wyoming again this summer and then plans to return to the UK in October, when my course concludes. We are slowly forming some world travel plans for the fall and I am hoping to set up a residency or two along the way to keep my art practice rolling.
I hope that you have spring in your steps these days!
Warmly,
Claire
Happy Spring! Since my last dispatch the sun has come back and I have come out of hibernation. My body, sensing the change of seasons seems to need less sleep. It's a striking difference here, more so than any place I've ever been and fortunate too as life seems to be speeding up with the warmer, brighter weather.
While the first snow drops and crocuses were beginning to come out en mass my second project on Psychological Aesthetics and Ecology of the Mind was evaluated. Among other side projects (such as my daily thought drawings, automatic writing etc.), I worked with Anna, my fellow classmate again on Dartmoor National park. But this time we chose to work primarily with sound. Through experimentation with sound and conversation we created a participatory piece based on a Bronze Age settlement at the confluence of two rivers, what we call the Avon Dam settlement. Participansts listened on headphones to our sound pieces on the journey by car to and from the site, offering preparation and follow-up to the experience at the site itself. We provided pens for people and asked them to write or illustrate on the car windows the ideas from the sound pieces that stood out for them. We drove as close to the site as we could and then continued the rest of the way on foot in silence. In response to our invitation people brought items or ideas to share and "exchange" with the Bronze people who once lived there. Although it was a stretch for some people, the conversations that emerged from this exchange revealed a great deal about a multitude of things, identity, our assumptions about the past, time preoccupations, and the layering of stories about the past. It was a successful project I think, based on our experiences as creators and facilitators as well as those described to us by participants. It offered me a tremendous opportunity for growth. I learned the basics of sound collection and editing; basics of relational aestheics, and coordinating a journey to a site as an experiential art piece. I will create a little documentation DVD from the project which will become available at some point in the near future.
After just a few days rest and a weekend camping in Cornwall I plunged into the next module intensive on Social Ecologies. The material that we were offered was rich and very relevant to the project that emerged from the previous module. It is addressed issues of social engagment, conversation as an art practice, action research methodologies and questions about how to integrate activism and art. We were joined by two members of Platform, a London based arts collective (http://www.platformlondon.org/) I've always been stymied by addressing myself. It's great!
Chris was here until the end of March and we had a splendid visit; we even had fun on the trip to London to the airport despite our sweetly sorrowful parting . While in London we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum and after Chris left I went to the Tate Britain. Both were overwhelmingly abundant with amazing works and incredible craftsmanship. At the Tate I came across an excellent William Blake exhibit. See his work in person made an impression om me, as he has become a sort of icon to me. His images have such a strong sense of the organic despite their often mythological subject matter. It was wonderful having him here, despite my absorption in my course work towards the end of the visit. He was (and now is from afar!) very supportive and understanding. At the beginning of the year we had more time to explore the area, take walks and discover fun new places. He found good work here as a carpenter and had steady work for most of his visit. I think he really enjoying his time here, getting to the know the place and it's people over the course of three months. By the end of his visit he knew many more people than I know and he did it in only half the time that I've had.
When I got back from London, I lept into action for our MA Arts and Ecology show at the Center for Contemporary Art in the Natural World (CCANW http://www.ccanw.co.uk/). I assisted in the curating process and it was an incredible learning experience. Having invested a great deal of time and effort into the show, it was very satisfying to have it turn out so well. I was very pleased and impressed with people's work. The opening for the show yesterday was well attended and accompanied by lovely blue skies and puffy white clouds, a treat to behold in this climate! I was grateful for the opportunity to show work there and be involved in bringing the show into form. The venue is a lovely spot in one of the few forests in this area. It is a plantation forest, but still evokes the mystery and environmental solitude created by tall trees and mossy ground.
NOW - today infact, Becky and Anna (fellow students) and Anna's husband Mark and I are setting out on an adventure by Land and Sea to Helsinki, Finland for an Art and Ecology conference. The conference is quite exciting, but the journey is now the highlight of the experience with the destination, merely the instigation for the trip. We will be driving through Holland, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia on the journey their. On the homeward journey we will be driving back through Scandinavia through Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark and Holland. In total the mileage is a little more than driving across the united states, however we will be going through at least 9 different countries along the way. We will take two and a half weeks for the adventure and plan to create artwork along the way. The Dartington Radio station has asked me to make some sound pieces/radio shows from the journey, so my sound recorder will be at my side for most of the journey. It should be quite an adventure!
Having reached the halfway mark on the course, I am beginning to look more seriously at what to do upon its conclusion. I've had some ideas, but they are still in the incubator and have yet to become concrete enough to describe with coherence. I will let you know when they have started to take form. Chris will be on the helitak fire crew in Wyoming again this summer and then plans to return to the UK in October, when my course concludes. We are slowly forming some world travel plans for the fall and I am hoping to set up a residency or two along the way to keep my art practice rolling.
I hope that you have spring in your steps these days!
Warmly,
Claire
Email Dispatch #5 January 15, 2008
Dear All-
Happy New Year! It is upon us! It crept up on me without me noticing, the sound of its feet muted by the rain and its form masked by the late dawn and early dusk of this Northern climate.
It is grey and rainy most of the time now and I miss sunrises and sunsets and the continually changing symphony of color that happens everyday in New Mexico. Most of the time I feel an internal glow generated by necessity to counteract the dismal weather. Solstice and yuletide celebrations make such sense to me now. They provide sustenance for body and soul at a time of need for inhabitants of this part of the globe. On the precipice of a New Year, the first few months of which promise half-light and rain, general merry-making of all kinds is in order here! I find myself sleeping more here. There is a societal need for hibernation.
Since the last e-novella I got through the second module intensive (Psychological Aesthetics – note emphasis on intensive) by the skin of my teeth, Chris arrived (yeah!), we dashed about on the tube in London, holidays happened, we hopped across the channel to Normandy and I resumed my studies again at college. That’s the short version. If you want the long version, read on……
The experiences and my impressions from the second module intensive are very different from the first. The module itself was packed with challenging exercises and experiences to tap into the unconscious, methods to approach work from a different angle etc. There was lots of time spent on the floor, interacting with objects in strange and poignant ways, writing about it, drawing the experience etc. “Object relations” it is called, I learned. I am still somewhat confused and unsure of how to approach the theme of the second module (Psychological Aesthetics and Ecology of Mind) in my work. While many formal psychological theories are unfamiliar to me, the idea of studying the mind, the psyche, its relationship to the body and to others etc. are concepts with which I am quite familiar. However the process of de-contextualizing and then re-contextualizing previous knowledge and then building on previous interests and knowledge through my art practice is no small task! The topics that are most familiar and of deepest significance are often the most difficult to approach, penetrate, and integrate. I was relieved to have a break for the holidays and now I am excited to get back to work. Although the way forward is not clear, somehow that’s okay and appropriate. At the moment the most important thing is to proceed until something feels right or breaks and then I go from there.
Despite deeply missing my family, friends and New Mexico at Christmas, Chris and I managed to have a lovely holiday season together. We had a bustling time in London with only one true city mishap. His arrival was fairly smooth with just a little snag in customs (officers questioning his three month stay and drilling into him that he shall not work). After less than two hours together as we were boarding for the last leg of the tube ride back to our flat the tube doors clamped shut between us and I was off down the tracks with part of his luggage and he was left there with his big pack on the platform. Fortunately he hopped on the next tube as I waited at our stop and rapped loudly on the window when I saw him looking dazed inside not knowing where to get off. Seeing me he threw his bag out of the door and made a dramatic exit. Reunion! We held hands as we were boarding the tube and “minding the gap” after that. Being tourists in London days before Christmas was an interesting experience in a city that even without approaching holidays is always on high speed. We went to several museums including the Natural history museum, strolled through lit streets trying to stay warm and spent lots of time searching for reasonably priced and yummy places to eat, a tricky business. At the end of our five busy days running around the city we were ready for some quiet time. I was happy to have a nice comfy room waiting for us on the other end of the train ride when we boarded our train at Paddington Station.
Totnes is festive at Christmas time with lots of mistletoe, holly, ivy and pine bows strewn about, lights twinkling etc. But there is still green grass, no snow and occasionally I stumble across a flowering plant of some sort. It’s an odd climate at a latitude equal to southern Canada and yet the temperature rarely drops much below freezing. But it certainly can feel cold! The Christmas holiday was filled with landlords' family – all very warm and interesting people. On Christmas day we had a massive dinner with friends from college. Two days after Christmas we went to Normandy France for a quick holiday with my friend, Becky and her family who has a house in a little town, La Savegere, an hour and a half inland from the coast. It was misty and beautifully green with lots of woodland and friendly country French folk, delicious bread, cheese, croissants, good company and a cozy open fire in the evenings. Staying with people who were familiar with the area was magical. They drove us to their favorite spots and took us on their favorite walks. We saw two chateaus; one from the 11th Century, ruins emerging from the mist and one from the 14th Century, extensively furnished from different eras. I won’t forget scrambling around on the ancient chateaus ruins in the thick mist, our imaginations running wild.
We arrived back in Totnes on New Year’s Eve to a party in our house. Moments before midnight we joined the flood of people pouring out of the pubs into the Totnes Town Square where the count down took place and the hugging and kissing and shouting mayhem ensued. On New Years Day our Land Lords invited us to go with them to visit family who live on Dartmoor and out for a New Year’s dip in the Dart River. The cold plunge in the dark water was a perfect bit of invigorating insanity with which to start the New Year.
Happily the academic cogs have begun to turn in my head again despite my confusion about the recently introduced information from the second module. While Monday was the first official day back to college, I’ve been reading and pondering between day trips and brief excursions around Totnes and Chris has been looking around for tools and work and exploring the area in his own way. A few days ago at the "tip" (recycling center) he found some tools and I got an old singer sewing machine with a crank handle. Just the lovely wooden box with its old nail key is amazing let alone the gorgeous craftsmanship inside. I don't know what I'm going to do with it, but when Morris, our friend at the tip said it was headed for the true tip (the dump) I couldn’t help myself. So we lugged it up the hill back to 107 High St. Perhaps it will find a place in my art work somehow?
Since we got back to Totnes Chris has been on a mission to assemble a basic tool set and between the local tip, postings on freecycle, word of mouth and people’s generosity he’s done well. Chris has lots of hypothetical offers for work although he has yet to get a start date from anyone. In the meantime he is making some built-in furniture for our landlords. We’ve also made friends with an Aussie carpenter, Terry, who has lots of local connections and work possibilities for him. So we’ll see what happens with all this potential. Chris’s work as a wildland firefighter on a helitack crew is quite novel here and he loves chatting with people about it and showing people the slideshow that he created from the past year’s season in Wyoming. People are stunned by the mountains and wide-open spaces of the American West. Their response awakens in me a small yearning for these open spaces, a desire to witness the relationship of earth to sky. While I am not “homesick” I have begun to miss the land.
We’ve been taking lots of walks and exploring, mostly in the rain as we have no other choice. Last week we cycled to Beenleigh Farm, owned by one my tutors from my first module, and volunteered as hedgelayers for a day. Hedgerows are an important element of the English landscape, encompassing fields and lining roads. However the art of traditional hedgelaying is rarely practiced because it is extremely labor intensive and requires perpetual maintenance. When a hedge is properly “laid” (haha) it increases biodiversity within the fields, thickens the hedge and replaces the need for fences, barbed wire or electric to contain livestock. Most hedged are simply cut, but there is a particular technique that we hastily learned a sloppily practiced of cutting the blackthorn and hazel and other tree types in a hedge like a hinge and laying them over on their side. Magically over the next year the open wound sprouts new vertical growth and new branches sprout out all along the horizontal limb creating a base for a new generation of vertical growth. Through the years the process continues and the hedge as it is laid over on itself becomes thicker and thicker.
Another adventure through the rain took us 6 miles on foot out to Landmatters, a small community of people who have won “planning permission” to live in temporary structures (benders) on their 40 acres of farm and wood land. Planning permission is a precious thing here and is not acquired easily, especially for dwellings on land zoned for farming. The Landmatters community members won a precedent-setting court case granting them 3-years of living on their land in what are called “benders” which are large sweat-lodge like structures made of hazel, blankets and giant tarps all lashed to the ground. They have a well and a new timber-frame green oak barn that they built from wood felled from their woodland. Visiting them is to witness a pioneering community of motivated, idealistic folks determined to live on their land in a different way. Inspiring!
On the political front, U.S. politics, concern for the environment, the nuclear power debate, climate change and global warming are certainly hot topics here. I was disappointed to read a Moveon.org statistic today that said that out of 2,709 questions asked by the US media of presidential hopefuls in 2007, only 3 were about climate change (the same number as were asked about UFOs). What do you all think about that statistic? What do you think about the candidates? What’s going on locally in your communities that you’re excited about or frustrated with?
Now, it’s back to the grind for me. Reading, working, experimenting, brainstorming, manifesting, ideas, collaborating, planning, walking, writing, searching, drawing, listening, supporting, wishing, building, making, doing. That’s my plan for the next 2 months.
Much love and good wishes from your “mate”
-Claire
P.S. For the English phrase tabulation: I heard “jollygood” used in general speech today at the White Heart pub at Dartington Hall. Classic!
Happy New Year! It is upon us! It crept up on me without me noticing, the sound of its feet muted by the rain and its form masked by the late dawn and early dusk of this Northern climate.
It is grey and rainy most of the time now and I miss sunrises and sunsets and the continually changing symphony of color that happens everyday in New Mexico. Most of the time I feel an internal glow generated by necessity to counteract the dismal weather. Solstice and yuletide celebrations make such sense to me now. They provide sustenance for body and soul at a time of need for inhabitants of this part of the globe. On the precipice of a New Year, the first few months of which promise half-light and rain, general merry-making of all kinds is in order here! I find myself sleeping more here. There is a societal need for hibernation.
Since the last e-novella I got through the second module intensive (Psychological Aesthetics – note emphasis on intensive) by the skin of my teeth, Chris arrived (yeah!), we dashed about on the tube in London, holidays happened, we hopped across the channel to Normandy and I resumed my studies again at college. That’s the short version. If you want the long version, read on……
The experiences and my impressions from the second module intensive are very different from the first. The module itself was packed with challenging exercises and experiences to tap into the unconscious, methods to approach work from a different angle etc. There was lots of time spent on the floor, interacting with objects in strange and poignant ways, writing about it, drawing the experience etc. “Object relations” it is called, I learned. I am still somewhat confused and unsure of how to approach the theme of the second module (Psychological Aesthetics and Ecology of Mind) in my work. While many formal psychological theories are unfamiliar to me, the idea of studying the mind, the psyche, its relationship to the body and to others etc. are concepts with which I am quite familiar. However the process of de-contextualizing and then re-contextualizing previous knowledge and then building on previous interests and knowledge through my art practice is no small task! The topics that are most familiar and of deepest significance are often the most difficult to approach, penetrate, and integrate. I was relieved to have a break for the holidays and now I am excited to get back to work. Although the way forward is not clear, somehow that’s okay and appropriate. At the moment the most important thing is to proceed until something feels right or breaks and then I go from there.
Despite deeply missing my family, friends and New Mexico at Christmas, Chris and I managed to have a lovely holiday season together. We had a bustling time in London with only one true city mishap. His arrival was fairly smooth with just a little snag in customs (officers questioning his three month stay and drilling into him that he shall not work). After less than two hours together as we were boarding for the last leg of the tube ride back to our flat the tube doors clamped shut between us and I was off down the tracks with part of his luggage and he was left there with his big pack on the platform. Fortunately he hopped on the next tube as I waited at our stop and rapped loudly on the window when I saw him looking dazed inside not knowing where to get off. Seeing me he threw his bag out of the door and made a dramatic exit. Reunion! We held hands as we were boarding the tube and “minding the gap” after that. Being tourists in London days before Christmas was an interesting experience in a city that even without approaching holidays is always on high speed. We went to several museums including the Natural history museum, strolled through lit streets trying to stay warm and spent lots of time searching for reasonably priced and yummy places to eat, a tricky business. At the end of our five busy days running around the city we were ready for some quiet time. I was happy to have a nice comfy room waiting for us on the other end of the train ride when we boarded our train at Paddington Station.
Totnes is festive at Christmas time with lots of mistletoe, holly, ivy and pine bows strewn about, lights twinkling etc. But there is still green grass, no snow and occasionally I stumble across a flowering plant of some sort. It’s an odd climate at a latitude equal to southern Canada and yet the temperature rarely drops much below freezing. But it certainly can feel cold! The Christmas holiday was filled with landlords' family – all very warm and interesting people. On Christmas day we had a massive dinner with friends from college. Two days after Christmas we went to Normandy France for a quick holiday with my friend, Becky and her family who has a house in a little town, La Savegere, an hour and a half inland from the coast. It was misty and beautifully green with lots of woodland and friendly country French folk, delicious bread, cheese, croissants, good company and a cozy open fire in the evenings. Staying with people who were familiar with the area was magical. They drove us to their favorite spots and took us on their favorite walks. We saw two chateaus; one from the 11th Century, ruins emerging from the mist and one from the 14th Century, extensively furnished from different eras. I won’t forget scrambling around on the ancient chateaus ruins in the thick mist, our imaginations running wild.
We arrived back in Totnes on New Year’s Eve to a party in our house. Moments before midnight we joined the flood of people pouring out of the pubs into the Totnes Town Square where the count down took place and the hugging and kissing and shouting mayhem ensued. On New Years Day our Land Lords invited us to go with them to visit family who live on Dartmoor and out for a New Year’s dip in the Dart River. The cold plunge in the dark water was a perfect bit of invigorating insanity with which to start the New Year.
Happily the academic cogs have begun to turn in my head again despite my confusion about the recently introduced information from the second module. While Monday was the first official day back to college, I’ve been reading and pondering between day trips and brief excursions around Totnes and Chris has been looking around for tools and work and exploring the area in his own way. A few days ago at the "tip" (recycling center) he found some tools and I got an old singer sewing machine with a crank handle. Just the lovely wooden box with its old nail key is amazing let alone the gorgeous craftsmanship inside. I don't know what I'm going to do with it, but when Morris, our friend at the tip said it was headed for the true tip (the dump) I couldn’t help myself. So we lugged it up the hill back to 107 High St. Perhaps it will find a place in my art work somehow?
Since we got back to Totnes Chris has been on a mission to assemble a basic tool set and between the local tip, postings on freecycle, word of mouth and people’s generosity he’s done well. Chris has lots of hypothetical offers for work although he has yet to get a start date from anyone. In the meantime he is making some built-in furniture for our landlords. We’ve also made friends with an Aussie carpenter, Terry, who has lots of local connections and work possibilities for him. So we’ll see what happens with all this potential. Chris’s work as a wildland firefighter on a helitack crew is quite novel here and he loves chatting with people about it and showing people the slideshow that he created from the past year’s season in Wyoming. People are stunned by the mountains and wide-open spaces of the American West. Their response awakens in me a small yearning for these open spaces, a desire to witness the relationship of earth to sky. While I am not “homesick” I have begun to miss the land.
We’ve been taking lots of walks and exploring, mostly in the rain as we have no other choice. Last week we cycled to Beenleigh Farm, owned by one my tutors from my first module, and volunteered as hedgelayers for a day. Hedgerows are an important element of the English landscape, encompassing fields and lining roads. However the art of traditional hedgelaying is rarely practiced because it is extremely labor intensive and requires perpetual maintenance. When a hedge is properly “laid” (haha) it increases biodiversity within the fields, thickens the hedge and replaces the need for fences, barbed wire or electric to contain livestock. Most hedged are simply cut, but there is a particular technique that we hastily learned a sloppily practiced of cutting the blackthorn and hazel and other tree types in a hedge like a hinge and laying them over on their side. Magically over the next year the open wound sprouts new vertical growth and new branches sprout out all along the horizontal limb creating a base for a new generation of vertical growth. Through the years the process continues and the hedge as it is laid over on itself becomes thicker and thicker.
Another adventure through the rain took us 6 miles on foot out to Landmatters, a small community of people who have won “planning permission” to live in temporary structures (benders) on their 40 acres of farm and wood land. Planning permission is a precious thing here and is not acquired easily, especially for dwellings on land zoned for farming. The Landmatters community members won a precedent-setting court case granting them 3-years of living on their land in what are called “benders” which are large sweat-lodge like structures made of hazel, blankets and giant tarps all lashed to the ground. They have a well and a new timber-frame green oak barn that they built from wood felled from their woodland. Visiting them is to witness a pioneering community of motivated, idealistic folks determined to live on their land in a different way. Inspiring!
On the political front, U.S. politics, concern for the environment, the nuclear power debate, climate change and global warming are certainly hot topics here. I was disappointed to read a Moveon.org statistic today that said that out of 2,709 questions asked by the US media of presidential hopefuls in 2007, only 3 were about climate change (the same number as were asked about UFOs). What do you all think about that statistic? What do you think about the candidates? What’s going on locally in your communities that you’re excited about or frustrated with?
Now, it’s back to the grind for me. Reading, working, experimenting, brainstorming, manifesting, ideas, collaborating, planning, walking, writing, searching, drawing, listening, supporting, wishing, building, making, doing. That’s my plan for the next 2 months.
Much love and good wishes from your “mate”
-Claire
P.S. For the English phrase tabulation: I heard “jollygood” used in general speech today at the White Heart pub at Dartington Hall. Classic!
Email Dispatch #4 November 27, 2007
Hiya!
It’s been over a month since I last dispatched one of my e-novellas. The past month has been spent with my nose to the “art-making grindstone.” But this art student’s grindstone probably looks different than you might imagine. Picture the processing of acorns for food and you’ll be on the right track.
With the conclusion of the intensive teaching segment I began exploring various themes, mapping, human-land relations etc. I tried using some of the different fieldwork methods suggested in the module intensive to examine myself, my body as a place. From my exploration of cognitive mapping and the constant but ever-changing rhythm of the breath I made a short video piece called “Breath Map above - below” using my breath as a mapping medium. I layered correlating images of “above” and “below” with the sound of my breath as I walked a stretch of trail on the way to Dartington College. It is not an earth-shattering piece, but it was highly satisfying to conceive of an idea and learn the technological elements necessary to manifest it. I used morning pages and daily “thought drawings” to chronicle my journey through the module. I found fulfillment in self-discipline, repetition and routine, taking the time to slow down for a morning ritual even when I was under other pressures. The exercise was so fruitful that I didn’t want to stop with the conclusion of the module.
On the last day of the module intensive Anna Keleher, a fellow student, invited me to work with her on a sound project on Dartmoor National Park. Because I am without a car and buses to Dartmoor are few and far between in the winter, I jumped at the idea of a project that would regularly take me out to the moors. The “sound project” which started slowly soon grew into a massive and all-consuming experience-based research project on prehistoric food sources of Dartmoor. Our interests led us on an amazing journey into ancient food processes and processing and gave us a glimpse of the time that we humans used to spend on subsistence.
Letting go of “accurately” recreating prehistoric conditions, we began to simply explore the processes themselves. After extensive research we decided to focus on acorns and dairy processes. We collected bags full of acorns (which included lots of exploring on foot, as we lacked the lineage or previous years of observation to tell us which trees are the best). We experimented with different leaching processes, different hulling, pounding and grinding techniques and tools and finally with different recipes. Eventually we made three different “breads”: very basic patties of acorn meal, water, salt and wild fennel; a cider leavened short bread of acorn flour and spelt; and a modern acorn quick bread. With the dairy experiments we tried to find a place where we could milk goats or cows, but could not find a source on Dartmoor with our time constraint. We played with different butter-making techniques (shaking in jars, putting containers in our rucksacks to harness the jostling movements of walking etc.). We also made simple cheese using vegetarian rennet made from nettles. We stored the butter and cheese in square wooden boxes that we made at the “hard 3-d” shop at college. These boxes were symbolic of the wooden barrels and vessels that were used by ancient peoples of Dartmoor to store butter in the oxygen-free environment of the bogs. The project culminated with hours in front of the computer spent editing sound, photos and movie footage of our experiments and experiential-research. We created DVDs of our “food research” processes using still images accompanied by processing sounds and passages from our “desk” research as well as a 12 minute film about prehistoric subsistence juxtaposed with a 48 second shopping spree at the local supermarket.
For our assessment exhibition we buried the boxes of butter and cheese along with our research documentation materials in a small bog on Dartmoor. Our tutors and classmates were given a page of directions to find and excavate the parcels in the bog. The day was rainy, gray and extremely atmospheric. The hole that had been nearly dry the day before was filled with water. When the farmer and owner of the land that we had used for our installation came striding sternly across the moor I was very nervous that we were going to get a tongu-lashing. When he said gruffly but with interest, “Alright then, show me your installation!” I couldn’t have been more relieved. He went on to say after I told him what our project was about, “It’s my people’s diet your researching you know! You should have come ‘n asked someone with dirt under their fingernails what the ancestors might have planted!” Wet to the skin, we took the bog parcels back to the “exploratory lab” and prehistoric tea room that we had set up the day before where people could view our research documentation and drink gorse and rosehip tea, acorn coffee and eat acorn breads with butter and cheese. There was something special about eating butter and cheese that had been stored in the bog!
I thoroughly enjoyed collaborating and I hope to continue in this vein of enquiry as it touches on many of my areas of interest: human-land relations, time, food, authenticity etc. Anna and I generated lots of ideas during the project, few of which we had time to follow through. I am currently culling through some of these to pull out the jewels. However we are just beginning the second module intensive teaching segment on “psychological aesthetics” and already there has been a great influx of new information and experience. I never know from one day to the next how new information will shift my focus and trajectory!
Although the past month has been filled mostly with walks on Dartmoor, hours gathering and processing food, mad dashes to the supermarket to film, hours of photo, sound and video editing and cramming on the written statement at the end, I did fit in two trips to Bristol (nearby city about 80 miles away); one to attend an arts conference and the second to visit with Stephanie, a friend from UNM. Both trips were wonderful and a breath of fresh air outside the small Dartington College world. Stephanie and I spent the day tracking architectural and monument references to the slave trade and its connections to Bristol. This marks the Abolition bicentennial in the UK. Because Bristol is a port city, it played a major role in the slave trade. We managed to see quite a lot of the city center and had some good chats in cozy cafes along the way (the second was called “The Boston Tea Party which I liked!). We even stumbled across a famous Banksy piece on a sexual health clinic building. The stenciled piece is of a window with a man looking anxiously out, a scantily clad woman (presumably his wife) in the background and a naked man (presumably her lover) hanging from the window ledge by one arm. Apparently there was a debate within the city whether or not to paint over the piece. In the end it was decided that having the piece on the building actually increased the value of the building itself, so it was voted to stay!
Now I am attempting to remain rested and healthy in a country where people seem to be constantly coughing and sneezing. As soon as the weather turned more wet and cold people’s health seemed to take a turn for the worse. So far I am managing pretty well. Between my busy schedule, occasional days of sunshine, an ample supply of B vitamins (thanks, Mama!) and good music (thanks Joan!) I have not yet begun to suffer the psychological affects of the gray climate. The next three weeks will be packed with new information and then I move into a new house where, Chris and I will be living together for the next 3 months. I will meet him in London for a few days in the big city then back to Totnes for my first non-New Mexico Christmas!
I hope that your fall has been filled with brilliant colors inside and out!
Much love,
Claire
It’s been over a month since I last dispatched one of my e-novellas. The past month has been spent with my nose to the “art-making grindstone.” But this art student’s grindstone probably looks different than you might imagine. Picture the processing of acorns for food and you’ll be on the right track.
With the conclusion of the intensive teaching segment I began exploring various themes, mapping, human-land relations etc. I tried using some of the different fieldwork methods suggested in the module intensive to examine myself, my body as a place. From my exploration of cognitive mapping and the constant but ever-changing rhythm of the breath I made a short video piece called “Breath Map above - below” using my breath as a mapping medium. I layered correlating images of “above” and “below” with the sound of my breath as I walked a stretch of trail on the way to Dartington College. It is not an earth-shattering piece, but it was highly satisfying to conceive of an idea and learn the technological elements necessary to manifest it. I used morning pages and daily “thought drawings” to chronicle my journey through the module. I found fulfillment in self-discipline, repetition and routine, taking the time to slow down for a morning ritual even when I was under other pressures. The exercise was so fruitful that I didn’t want to stop with the conclusion of the module.
On the last day of the module intensive Anna Keleher, a fellow student, invited me to work with her on a sound project on Dartmoor National Park. Because I am without a car and buses to Dartmoor are few and far between in the winter, I jumped at the idea of a project that would regularly take me out to the moors. The “sound project” which started slowly soon grew into a massive and all-consuming experience-based research project on prehistoric food sources of Dartmoor. Our interests led us on an amazing journey into ancient food processes and processing and gave us a glimpse of the time that we humans used to spend on subsistence.
Letting go of “accurately” recreating prehistoric conditions, we began to simply explore the processes themselves. After extensive research we decided to focus on acorns and dairy processes. We collected bags full of acorns (which included lots of exploring on foot, as we lacked the lineage or previous years of observation to tell us which trees are the best). We experimented with different leaching processes, different hulling, pounding and grinding techniques and tools and finally with different recipes. Eventually we made three different “breads”: very basic patties of acorn meal, water, salt and wild fennel; a cider leavened short bread of acorn flour and spelt; and a modern acorn quick bread. With the dairy experiments we tried to find a place where we could milk goats or cows, but could not find a source on Dartmoor with our time constraint. We played with different butter-making techniques (shaking in jars, putting containers in our rucksacks to harness the jostling movements of walking etc.). We also made simple cheese using vegetarian rennet made from nettles. We stored the butter and cheese in square wooden boxes that we made at the “hard 3-d” shop at college. These boxes were symbolic of the wooden barrels and vessels that were used by ancient peoples of Dartmoor to store butter in the oxygen-free environment of the bogs. The project culminated with hours in front of the computer spent editing sound, photos and movie footage of our experiments and experiential-research. We created DVDs of our “food research” processes using still images accompanied by processing sounds and passages from our “desk” research as well as a 12 minute film about prehistoric subsistence juxtaposed with a 48 second shopping spree at the local supermarket.
For our assessment exhibition we buried the boxes of butter and cheese along with our research documentation materials in a small bog on Dartmoor. Our tutors and classmates were given a page of directions to find and excavate the parcels in the bog. The day was rainy, gray and extremely atmospheric. The hole that had been nearly dry the day before was filled with water. When the farmer and owner of the land that we had used for our installation came striding sternly across the moor I was very nervous that we were going to get a tongu-lashing. When he said gruffly but with interest, “Alright then, show me your installation!” I couldn’t have been more relieved. He went on to say after I told him what our project was about, “It’s my people’s diet your researching you know! You should have come ‘n asked someone with dirt under their fingernails what the ancestors might have planted!” Wet to the skin, we took the bog parcels back to the “exploratory lab” and prehistoric tea room that we had set up the day before where people could view our research documentation and drink gorse and rosehip tea, acorn coffee and eat acorn breads with butter and cheese. There was something special about eating butter and cheese that had been stored in the bog!
I thoroughly enjoyed collaborating and I hope to continue in this vein of enquiry as it touches on many of my areas of interest: human-land relations, time, food, authenticity etc. Anna and I generated lots of ideas during the project, few of which we had time to follow through. I am currently culling through some of these to pull out the jewels. However we are just beginning the second module intensive teaching segment on “psychological aesthetics” and already there has been a great influx of new information and experience. I never know from one day to the next how new information will shift my focus and trajectory!
Although the past month has been filled mostly with walks on Dartmoor, hours gathering and processing food, mad dashes to the supermarket to film, hours of photo, sound and video editing and cramming on the written statement at the end, I did fit in two trips to Bristol (nearby city about 80 miles away); one to attend an arts conference and the second to visit with Stephanie, a friend from UNM. Both trips were wonderful and a breath of fresh air outside the small Dartington College world. Stephanie and I spent the day tracking architectural and monument references to the slave trade and its connections to Bristol. This marks the Abolition bicentennial in the UK. Because Bristol is a port city, it played a major role in the slave trade. We managed to see quite a lot of the city center and had some good chats in cozy cafes along the way (the second was called “The Boston Tea Party which I liked!). We even stumbled across a famous Banksy piece on a sexual health clinic building. The stenciled piece is of a window with a man looking anxiously out, a scantily clad woman (presumably his wife) in the background and a naked man (presumably her lover) hanging from the window ledge by one arm. Apparently there was a debate within the city whether or not to paint over the piece. In the end it was decided that having the piece on the building actually increased the value of the building itself, so it was voted to stay!
Now I am attempting to remain rested and healthy in a country where people seem to be constantly coughing and sneezing. As soon as the weather turned more wet and cold people’s health seemed to take a turn for the worse. So far I am managing pretty well. Between my busy schedule, occasional days of sunshine, an ample supply of B vitamins (thanks, Mama!) and good music (thanks Joan!) I have not yet begun to suffer the psychological affects of the gray climate. The next three weeks will be packed with new information and then I move into a new house where, Chris and I will be living together for the next 3 months. I will meet him in London for a few days in the big city then back to Totnes for my first non-New Mexico Christmas!
I hope that your fall has been filled with brilliant colors inside and out!
Much love,
Claire
Email Dispatch #3 October 15, 2007
Greetings All,
We've completed the intensive theory in-class segment of the first module of my course. The route from my little room at 7 Farwell Rd. up the hill to Dartington college has grown familiar and even lovelier than the first time I walked it. My quads are growing strong from biking up the steep hill. I would arrive at 10:00 for class, winded from the uphill climb, with chilly cheeks and great expectations for the day. They were very full days and my brain began to feel simultaneously crunched and stretched at the end of the three week period from the mass quantity of new information and inquiry. My whole being was itching to begin experimenting, making, exploring, doing and putting into practice all the new ideas that I'd begun having throughout these first three weeks of the program.
Our focus has been primarily examining different methods of fieldwork within our art practice and our general working methods. We worked with a microbiologist, two visiting artists (who helped us build the radio telescope that enabled us to hear storms on Jupiter), a group facilitator (who introduced us to different methods and theories of group communication and dynamics) and an art writer who stayed with us for the entire three weeks of the module. They all answered questions, offered informative personal experiences from their lives, chats and introduced us to different theories. The authoritative, hierarchical model of education is consciously avoided in this course. While there is formal teaching time, when discussion takes place, which is often, tutors simply participate in the discussion as contributors and listeners. There is something quite refreshing about the breaking down of the hierarchical system within the classroom. And I am eager to continue investigating this method of education for my own future purposes as professor, workshop leader or art teacher. Even as a lecturer, there are things to be learned from this unique model. Notice too that I am speaking in the collective "we, our" etc. The 11 of us are now certainly a strong group with broad ranging backgrounds and experiences, both in life and art. I feel very much that my fellow-students are a resource. I am excited by the opportunity to collaborate and draw inspiration from others' perspectives and approaches to the world.
There were several intense moments for me in the last three weeks. Being in another country, albeit very western and familiar in certain ways, I felt that I was being peeled like an onion to my core and forced to look at that core honestly, openly and plainly. I've also become much more keenly aware of the affect of nationality, and borders and the affect that these things have on us as individual global citizens. I have a newfound empathy for those whose travel, mobility, and life is limited by their nationality or general life-situation. EU citizens are favored here and have funding opportunities that are unavailable to me as a US citizen. While it is a small thing and does not affect my overall wellbeing, I realized how used to complete accessibility I am, as a white middle class American. I still have no idea what it really feels like to be denied entry to a country based on the origin of a passport, but somehow through this gentle experience I woke up to the plight of many in the world today and began to feel the pain and divisiveness of political borders and the consequences to all of us as a result. "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
So now I'm experimenting and beginning my work. In a book-making flurry with my friend Becky, I began this segment by making a huge all-recycled book as a receptacle for all the research, drawings, ideas and experimentation that we will do in this period of exploration. I have begun receiving training on the technical equipment available here at the college - video cameras, sound equipment, editing software and computers, still cameras, darkroom, soft 3D and hard 3D studios with supplies and tools and the radio station which invites students to do special or regular broadcasts. There is such an amazing amount of "kit" as they call it here (equipment) available that it would be silly for me not to jump at the opportunity to learn how to use it and pick the brains of all the techies who are here to serve us students. It is incredible to have the time to do all this and yet, I have to be careful because already time has begun to "fly." I've just taken a book out from the library called Pip Pip, which addresses our confused relationship to time. It seems quite relevant as I am surrounded by the human record of the passage of time in the English landscape - evidence of literally thousands of years of stone moved from place to place, wall to wall, formation to formation juxtaposed with the time frame that I face as an international graduate student planning to finish my degree in less than a year.
I took my first walk through Dartmoor, a nearby National Park, which is owned by a prince and protected in some areas by the national trust. It is a beautiful landscape with a variety of different environments: forest, riparian, moors, tors, hills, pasture and a few towns. National Parks are different here. While they are protected, because people live almost everywhere, national parks just encompass the farmers and small towns that were there before the national trust decided to protect the area. Being up high and being out under the open sky and able, finally to see for miles into the distance was a thrill. I try not to think too much about how much the passive English sky which does not require an active relationship with it makes me miss its demanding and brilliant cousin in New Mexico. But being here and experiencing the landscape, examining it carefully and forming a relationship with it, I have strangely begun to feel more able to see the Western United States in its starkness, its wildness, its openness, its hugeness, its diversity of colors, its danger, its dryness, its harshness and its unique beauty. I've always thought the West and Southwestern US immeasurably beautiful and fascinating and my home. But living in a truly "tamed" landscape, where all large predators have been exterminated and where humans have lived continusously for nearly 10,000 years gives me new perspective and appreciation for the deep environmental, cultural, political and social implications of the unique ecological histories and current situations of these two disparate landscapes. This week I plan to return to Dartmoor with my classmate, Anna to do some preliminary observations, walking and experimenting for a project collaboration.
And so it continues.....eating well, drinking well (I happily found a locally produced hard cider without sulfites!) and digging into a year of graduate projects that promise to take me to new places both interior and exterior.
I hope that this October day finds you happy and healthy and enjoying and appreciating your connection to the environment around you.
Until next time,
Claire
P.S. For those of you interested in my British cultural tabulation, I heard "Cheerio" used for the first time the other day and I had bubble and squeak for the first time last week. I was excited in both instances.
We've completed the intensive theory in-class segment of the first module of my course. The route from my little room at 7 Farwell Rd. up the hill to Dartington college has grown familiar and even lovelier than the first time I walked it. My quads are growing strong from biking up the steep hill. I would arrive at 10:00 for class, winded from the uphill climb, with chilly cheeks and great expectations for the day. They were very full days and my brain began to feel simultaneously crunched and stretched at the end of the three week period from the mass quantity of new information and inquiry. My whole being was itching to begin experimenting, making, exploring, doing and putting into practice all the new ideas that I'd begun having throughout these first three weeks of the program.
Our focus has been primarily examining different methods of fieldwork within our art practice and our general working methods. We worked with a microbiologist, two visiting artists (who helped us build the radio telescope that enabled us to hear storms on Jupiter), a group facilitator (who introduced us to different methods and theories of group communication and dynamics) and an art writer who stayed with us for the entire three weeks of the module. They all answered questions, offered informative personal experiences from their lives, chats and introduced us to different theories. The authoritative, hierarchical model of education is consciously avoided in this course. While there is formal teaching time, when discussion takes place, which is often, tutors simply participate in the discussion as contributors and listeners. There is something quite refreshing about the breaking down of the hierarchical system within the classroom. And I am eager to continue investigating this method of education for my own future purposes as professor, workshop leader or art teacher. Even as a lecturer, there are things to be learned from this unique model. Notice too that I am speaking in the collective "we, our" etc. The 11 of us are now certainly a strong group with broad ranging backgrounds and experiences, both in life and art. I feel very much that my fellow-students are a resource. I am excited by the opportunity to collaborate and draw inspiration from others' perspectives and approaches to the world.
There were several intense moments for me in the last three weeks. Being in another country, albeit very western and familiar in certain ways, I felt that I was being peeled like an onion to my core and forced to look at that core honestly, openly and plainly. I've also become much more keenly aware of the affect of nationality, and borders and the affect that these things have on us as individual global citizens. I have a newfound empathy for those whose travel, mobility, and life is limited by their nationality or general life-situation. EU citizens are favored here and have funding opportunities that are unavailable to me as a US citizen. While it is a small thing and does not affect my overall wellbeing, I realized how used to complete accessibility I am, as a white middle class American. I still have no idea what it really feels like to be denied entry to a country based on the origin of a passport, but somehow through this gentle experience I woke up to the plight of many in the world today and began to feel the pain and divisiveness of political borders and the consequences to all of us as a result. "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
So now I'm experimenting and beginning my work. In a book-making flurry with my friend Becky, I began this segment by making a huge all-recycled book as a receptacle for all the research, drawings, ideas and experimentation that we will do in this period of exploration. I have begun receiving training on the technical equipment available here at the college - video cameras, sound equipment, editing software and computers, still cameras, darkroom, soft 3D and hard 3D studios with supplies and tools and the radio station which invites students to do special or regular broadcasts. There is such an amazing amount of "kit" as they call it here (equipment) available that it would be silly for me not to jump at the opportunity to learn how to use it and pick the brains of all the techies who are here to serve us students. It is incredible to have the time to do all this and yet, I have to be careful because already time has begun to "fly." I've just taken a book out from the library called Pip Pip, which addresses our confused relationship to time. It seems quite relevant as I am surrounded by the human record of the passage of time in the English landscape - evidence of literally thousands of years of stone moved from place to place, wall to wall, formation to formation juxtaposed with the time frame that I face as an international graduate student planning to finish my degree in less than a year.
I took my first walk through Dartmoor, a nearby National Park, which is owned by a prince and protected in some areas by the national trust. It is a beautiful landscape with a variety of different environments: forest, riparian, moors, tors, hills, pasture and a few towns. National Parks are different here. While they are protected, because people live almost everywhere, national parks just encompass the farmers and small towns that were there before the national trust decided to protect the area. Being up high and being out under the open sky and able, finally to see for miles into the distance was a thrill. I try not to think too much about how much the passive English sky which does not require an active relationship with it makes me miss its demanding and brilliant cousin in New Mexico. But being here and experiencing the landscape, examining it carefully and forming a relationship with it, I have strangely begun to feel more able to see the Western United States in its starkness, its wildness, its openness, its hugeness, its diversity of colors, its danger, its dryness, its harshness and its unique beauty. I've always thought the West and Southwestern US immeasurably beautiful and fascinating and my home. But living in a truly "tamed" landscape, where all large predators have been exterminated and where humans have lived continusously for nearly 10,000 years gives me new perspective and appreciation for the deep environmental, cultural, political and social implications of the unique ecological histories and current situations of these two disparate landscapes. This week I plan to return to Dartmoor with my classmate, Anna to do some preliminary observations, walking and experimenting for a project collaboration.
And so it continues.....eating well, drinking well (I happily found a locally produced hard cider without sulfites!) and digging into a year of graduate projects that promise to take me to new places both interior and exterior.
I hope that this October day finds you happy and healthy and enjoying and appreciating your connection to the environment around you.
Until next time,
Claire
P.S. For those of you interested in my British cultural tabulation, I heard "Cheerio" used for the first time the other day and I had bubble and squeak for the first time last week. I was excited in both instances.
Email Dispatch #2 September 30, 2007
Hi All!
I am writing to you from the cusp of sleep and already I am mentally readying myself for the coming week, sure to be packed with lots of new information and experiences. The past week has been full - an Art and Ecology conference focusing on the ecology of language, viewing previous MA students work, getting to know my new classmates, beginning the course, riding my funky new bike (which I am exchanging tomorrow) on dark paths by the river, making new friends, drinking lots of tea and my first walk along the coast.
I am very excited about the course itself now that it's begun and I know more what to expect of the next year. Set up to expose us to new ways of approaching our work through four different modules, the course is comprised of a series of guest lecturers/scientists/artists/authors etc., who then join us for the rest of that particular module as a participant in the group and an ongoing resource for students. The group dynamic and cohesion is an important focus and resource in the course. As students with our own experiences, the course fosters an atmosphere of exchange and emphasizes our own available resources for each other. Our first guest lecturer was Christian Taylor, an ecologist and micro-biologist who gave us a crash course in the scientific method and his approach to ecology as a microbiologist. We spent a day doing field work with the tools and techniques we had just learned about, devised experiments, conducted them and presented results. My group did a little investigation into the churchyard lichen, which I found out is a common place to study lichen because of the convenient dates provided on headstones. My camera lens has had a perpetual magnetic relationship with lichen, so it was satisfying to learn a bit more. It ended up being a comical experiment involving anointing headstones with lemon juice and peering at them through a magnifying glass (aka sherlock) to see if it caused an acid or base reaction - which in turn related to the species of lichen growing on it. We then feasted on a stew of wild plants collected from the estate and bagetts with local cheeses and wine.
Several of us girls on the MA course decided to take Saturday afternoon to walk some miles along the coast, my first first exposure to the English coastline. Simply amazing! The Saxon lanes leading to the coast were quite an experience in navigation. Our mode of transport was a big diesel mercedes transport van running on veggie oil, belonging to one of the students in the course, her home on wheels. The walk along the coast was incredible with beautiful weather and stunning views of green fields, cliffs and green-blue sea. We picked wild blackberries and marveled at plants and trees along the way. I was struck by the evident culture of walking here with easements through private driveways, pastures and fields. At one point we saw a sign which pointed with an arrow "Minehead 432 Miles." I plan to take advantage of the beautiful trails while I'm here and hopefully doing a longer walk or two or three. Along the trail we walked past the ruined village of Hallsands, which was swept out to sea in the early 20th century. The ruins of the village sit perched on the cliff which long ago overlooked a beach, but now plunge straight into the sea. Patrick Cooper, the dad of the family who I'm living with, is a children's book author and wrote a book about this village. After being there I can see why he did.
Now I'm gearing up for the next week which promises to be equally interesting. At the end of the week we will be working with a sound artist to build an apparatus to capture radio active storms on Jupiter which we will broadcast live on Totnes Radio. There will be a live webbroadcast at www.dartington.ac.uk.soundart at 6:00 pm UK time which is 7 hours later than mountain standard time. Tune if if you feel like it - I have no idea what we'll find!
Hope you're all doing well!
Love,
Claire
I am writing to you from the cusp of sleep and already I am mentally readying myself for the coming week, sure to be packed with lots of new information and experiences. The past week has been full - an Art and Ecology conference focusing on the ecology of language, viewing previous MA students work, getting to know my new classmates, beginning the course, riding my funky new bike (which I am exchanging tomorrow) on dark paths by the river, making new friends, drinking lots of tea and my first walk along the coast.
I am very excited about the course itself now that it's begun and I know more what to expect of the next year. Set up to expose us to new ways of approaching our work through four different modules, the course is comprised of a series of guest lecturers/scientists/artists/authors etc., who then join us for the rest of that particular module as a participant in the group and an ongoing resource for students. The group dynamic and cohesion is an important focus and resource in the course. As students with our own experiences, the course fosters an atmosphere of exchange and emphasizes our own available resources for each other. Our first guest lecturer was Christian Taylor, an ecologist and micro-biologist who gave us a crash course in the scientific method and his approach to ecology as a microbiologist. We spent a day doing field work with the tools and techniques we had just learned about, devised experiments, conducted them and presented results. My group did a little investigation into the churchyard lichen, which I found out is a common place to study lichen because of the convenient dates provided on headstones. My camera lens has had a perpetual magnetic relationship with lichen, so it was satisfying to learn a bit more. It ended up being a comical experiment involving anointing headstones with lemon juice and peering at them through a magnifying glass (aka sherlock) to see if it caused an acid or base reaction - which in turn related to the species of lichen growing on it. We then feasted on a stew of wild plants collected from the estate and bagetts with local cheeses and wine.
Several of us girls on the MA course decided to take Saturday afternoon to walk some miles along the coast, my first first exposure to the English coastline. Simply amazing! The Saxon lanes leading to the coast were quite an experience in navigation. Our mode of transport was a big diesel mercedes transport van running on veggie oil, belonging to one of the students in the course, her home on wheels. The walk along the coast was incredible with beautiful weather and stunning views of green fields, cliffs and green-blue sea. We picked wild blackberries and marveled at plants and trees along the way. I was struck by the evident culture of walking here with easements through private driveways, pastures and fields. At one point we saw a sign which pointed with an arrow "Minehead 432 Miles." I plan to take advantage of the beautiful trails while I'm here and hopefully doing a longer walk or two or three. Along the trail we walked past the ruined village of Hallsands, which was swept out to sea in the early 20th century. The ruins of the village sit perched on the cliff which long ago overlooked a beach, but now plunge straight into the sea. Patrick Cooper, the dad of the family who I'm living with, is a children's book author and wrote a book about this village. After being there I can see why he did.
Now I'm gearing up for the next week which promises to be equally interesting. At the end of the week we will be working with a sound artist to build an apparatus to capture radio active storms on Jupiter which we will broadcast live on Totnes Radio. There will be a live webbroadcast at www.dartington.ac.uk.soundart at 6:00 pm UK time which is 7 hours later than mountain standard time. Tune if if you feel like it - I have no idea what we'll find!
Hope you're all doing well!
Love,
Claire
Email Dispatch #1 September 13, 2007
Hello to each of you!
Thank you for your warm wishes, support and enthusiasm about hearing from me as I turtle through my year-long adventure. I am excited to share with you as I go along. I've always felt that sharing a good experience with someone makes it ten times better.
If you prefer not to read the following treatise or are just curious, check out my blog "Turtle Tracks" at the following web address: http://tortugatracks.blogspot.com/
I will be updating it periodically, posting experiences, photos, interesting facts, projects and randomness.
London was a mixture of excitement and relaxation, a time to unwind after weeks of preparation for my departure. In London I was suddenly faced with a void, where the day before I had faced a thousand details that needed remembering. Suddenly sightseeing, relaxing, drinking tea, taking photos and dipping my toes into the thick mysteries of English history and architecture were the only items on my docket. The home of the Tangs, a Chinese family from Hong Kong that I let a room from in London, was quite an experience in and of itself. The location near Russel Square in Camden Town was perfect and the family kindly offered for me to join them for meals if I wanted. The first day I was there they had rice, pork, bokchoy and stir-fried dried shrimp, which for my sensitive jet-lagged stomach, was a bit much. So - I was not met by beans on toast for breakfast as I had expected, but rather dried shrimp for lunch! One never knows what cultural experiences await around the next corner.
Fortunately my exploration of London was not extensively affected by the Tube strike that had the city up in arms. I primarily used the Picadilly line that continued to run with good service throughout the strike. I was able to take it to most places in Westminster that wanted to go. Buses were also fun, as I was not strapped for time. Climbing onto the top floor provided quite lovely views. Once, at the end of a long day of walking I boarded a bus that was going vaguely in the direction of Russel Square and took it to the end of the line, enjoying the architecture at dusk and people getting on and off as we went.
London's Museums and architecture are amazing. I went to the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Tate Modern and a couple of galleries along the Southbank that were interesting. One was showing a project done by two artists, Shona Watt and Pete Gomes, who led art and design workshops with pupils from 32 secondary schools in London. Other artists led workshops with secondary school classes in China on the Yangtze River, in River Ganges in India, the River Liesbeek in South Africa and the River Nile in Egypt. The result was a work on paper from each class relating to an element of the river ecology that was their focus. I was fascinated and inspire by these works. The premise and model for the work was like a confirmation of my goals for this journey and education; a sort of confirmation that in CAN BE DONE and it can function in the world.
I enjoyed St. Paul's cathedral from the outside and the London Eye as well. The visual spectacles were enough for me. However Westminster Abbey was quite another story. Walking the interior was like going into a time warp. Even with the many tourists around me, I was transported. And the neat thing was that others were too - all in different ways. There were countless burials of famous kings and queens, knights etc. in the floor, in the walls and in special tombs in the center of specially built chapels. It was here that I saw a door built in 1055 AD, the poet's corner where over 120 poets, artists, writers and actors are memorialized or buried, and the place where royalty has been coronated since 1066. The architecture and stone work itself is incredible from both inside and out. It is stunning to see a colossal building of stone, that is unimaginably, mammathly heavy and yet delicately crafted in high Gothic style. To create the illusion of lacy intracy from stone is incredible.
Due to an unforeseen curfew from the Tangs I did not stay out very late - which is contradictory to the very nature of London. However I did see "Lord of the Rings" at the Royal Theater on Drury Lane and it was fantastic. I was completely taken with the costumes, the stage, blocking and mechanics (lots of stage action up and down and rotating!) as well as with lighting and special effects. The acting and singing were excellent as well - so smooth that is all melded together within the plot much better than I imagined it would. I was ready to be impressed, as I had heard from a reliable source that it was quite the show; but even with high expectations I was truly wowed! And then I did go to a couple of clubs with Elisha Weisman, who arrived in London the day before I was leaving for Totnes. It was fun and good to get out to see some of the acclaimed London nightlife.
Then a nice 3-hour train ride along the coast brought me and my 100+ lbs. of luggage to Totnes, where Jet (said Yet), the mom of the family I'm renting a room from, picked me up at the train station. The Cooper-Kamphuis family home has been a wonderful place to land. They are truly generous, open-hearted, fun and in no way uptight. They expressed concern that they would be too messy by my American standards. I would so much rather that, than walking on eggshells all the time. We are sharing cooking. Our schedules may be different once my classes start, but for now it's great. I have a lovely little room on the west side of the house off the street looking onto their backyard. They have two old chickens and a nice little garden. They are very environmentally conscious and enjoy many of the same topics of conversation as me. We have enjoyed comparing cultural notes as I've been settling in. They have one little one, Sam, 8 and Danny in highschool and Johanna, who is off to Unversity this year. I feel very fortunate to have found such a great family in a home so conveniently located near the town of the Totnes and Dartington College. The town center is only 4 blocks away and Dartington College is about 2 miles. Totnes is a lovely little town saturated with history, fun little festivals and artsy people. I'm still in exploration mode and making more discoveries every day.
The walk to Dartington along the River is beautiful. There is alots of water fowl along the river and the water is incredibly clear. At some points along the river the rocks at the bottom stare up at you like a thousand eyes. The path then cuts up to the college. There is hill at the end, which is a good workout. The walk takes 30-40 minutes at a good clip. I have my eyes open for a bike. Hitch-hiking is also quite common here, especially to the college. It's fun to be in a safe environment for a change. The college itself is a 14th century mansion set on 1200 acres of land on a hill. It is in an absolutely amazing setting with a mixture of old a new buildings, and acres of manicured gardens, hedges and rolling grasscovered hills. I didn't get to meet any faculty because it is set up in such a noninstitutional way that it's hard to find my way around and to locate people, but my overall impression was good. There are a couple of nice little restaurants and pubs up at the college. Things are getting going for the next year....emails are beginning to fly to new students. I now have my first cell phone (mobile) so that I won't miss a beat in the student world. Texting is extremely popular over here. Even advertisements often provide a special number for text inquiries. So I took the plunge to become a cell-carrying member of society, at least for now.
Many of my settling-in details have been accomplished so I am now faced with free time to relax and days that begin with me not knowing what will fill their hours. It's a nice change and a state of being that I do not seek naturally. So now I find this gift in my lap and I am very grateful. I will keep you posted from here as time goes on. And on that note, please keep me in your loop as the year goes on!
Ta Ta from Totnes,
Claire
P.S. Sorry this is so epic....I just realized that it really DOES go on forever! I have lots of time now, but don't worry, they won't be this long in the future.
Thank you for your warm wishes, support and enthusiasm about hearing from me as I turtle through my year-long adventure. I am excited to share with you as I go along. I've always felt that sharing a good experience with someone makes it ten times better.
If you prefer not to read the following treatise or are just curious, check out my blog "Turtle Tracks" at the following web address: http://tortugatracks.blogspot.com/
I will be updating it periodically, posting experiences, photos, interesting facts, projects and randomness.
London was a mixture of excitement and relaxation, a time to unwind after weeks of preparation for my departure. In London I was suddenly faced with a void, where the day before I had faced a thousand details that needed remembering. Suddenly sightseeing, relaxing, drinking tea, taking photos and dipping my toes into the thick mysteries of English history and architecture were the only items on my docket. The home of the Tangs, a Chinese family from Hong Kong that I let a room from in London, was quite an experience in and of itself. The location near Russel Square in Camden Town was perfect and the family kindly offered for me to join them for meals if I wanted. The first day I was there they had rice, pork, bokchoy and stir-fried dried shrimp, which for my sensitive jet-lagged stomach, was a bit much. So - I was not met by beans on toast for breakfast as I had expected, but rather dried shrimp for lunch! One never knows what cultural experiences await around the next corner.
Fortunately my exploration of London was not extensively affected by the Tube strike that had the city up in arms. I primarily used the Picadilly line that continued to run with good service throughout the strike. I was able to take it to most places in Westminster that wanted to go. Buses were also fun, as I was not strapped for time. Climbing onto the top floor provided quite lovely views. Once, at the end of a long day of walking I boarded a bus that was going vaguely in the direction of Russel Square and took it to the end of the line, enjoying the architecture at dusk and people getting on and off as we went.
London's Museums and architecture are amazing. I went to the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Tate Modern and a couple of galleries along the Southbank that were interesting. One was showing a project done by two artists, Shona Watt and Pete Gomes, who led art and design workshops with pupils from 32 secondary schools in London. Other artists led workshops with secondary school classes in China on the Yangtze River, in River Ganges in India, the River Liesbeek in South Africa and the River Nile in Egypt. The result was a work on paper from each class relating to an element of the river ecology that was their focus. I was fascinated and inspire by these works. The premise and model for the work was like a confirmation of my goals for this journey and education; a sort of confirmation that in CAN BE DONE and it can function in the world.
I enjoyed St. Paul's cathedral from the outside and the London Eye as well. The visual spectacles were enough for me. However Westminster Abbey was quite another story. Walking the interior was like going into a time warp. Even with the many tourists around me, I was transported. And the neat thing was that others were too - all in different ways. There were countless burials of famous kings and queens, knights etc. in the floor, in the walls and in special tombs in the center of specially built chapels. It was here that I saw a door built in 1055 AD, the poet's corner where over 120 poets, artists, writers and actors are memorialized or buried, and the place where royalty has been coronated since 1066. The architecture and stone work itself is incredible from both inside and out. It is stunning to see a colossal building of stone, that is unimaginably, mammathly heavy and yet delicately crafted in high Gothic style. To create the illusion of lacy intracy from stone is incredible.
Due to an unforeseen curfew from the Tangs I did not stay out very late - which is contradictory to the very nature of London. However I did see "Lord of the Rings" at the Royal Theater on Drury Lane and it was fantastic. I was completely taken with the costumes, the stage, blocking and mechanics (lots of stage action up and down and rotating!) as well as with lighting and special effects. The acting and singing were excellent as well - so smooth that is all melded together within the plot much better than I imagined it would. I was ready to be impressed, as I had heard from a reliable source that it was quite the show; but even with high expectations I was truly wowed! And then I did go to a couple of clubs with Elisha Weisman, who arrived in London the day before I was leaving for Totnes. It was fun and good to get out to see some of the acclaimed London nightlife.
Then a nice 3-hour train ride along the coast brought me and my 100+ lbs. of luggage to Totnes, where Jet (said Yet), the mom of the family I'm renting a room from, picked me up at the train station. The Cooper-Kamphuis family home has been a wonderful place to land. They are truly generous, open-hearted, fun and in no way uptight. They expressed concern that they would be too messy by my American standards. I would so much rather that, than walking on eggshells all the time. We are sharing cooking. Our schedules may be different once my classes start, but for now it's great. I have a lovely little room on the west side of the house off the street looking onto their backyard. They have two old chickens and a nice little garden. They are very environmentally conscious and enjoy many of the same topics of conversation as me. We have enjoyed comparing cultural notes as I've been settling in. They have one little one, Sam, 8 and Danny in highschool and Johanna, who is off to Unversity this year. I feel very fortunate to have found such a great family in a home so conveniently located near the town of the Totnes and Dartington College. The town center is only 4 blocks away and Dartington College is about 2 miles. Totnes is a lovely little town saturated with history, fun little festivals and artsy people. I'm still in exploration mode and making more discoveries every day.
The walk to Dartington along the River is beautiful. There is alots of water fowl along the river and the water is incredibly clear. At some points along the river the rocks at the bottom stare up at you like a thousand eyes. The path then cuts up to the college. There is hill at the end, which is a good workout. The walk takes 30-40 minutes at a good clip. I have my eyes open for a bike. Hitch-hiking is also quite common here, especially to the college. It's fun to be in a safe environment for a change. The college itself is a 14th century mansion set on 1200 acres of land on a hill. It is in an absolutely amazing setting with a mixture of old a new buildings, and acres of manicured gardens, hedges and rolling grasscovered hills. I didn't get to meet any faculty because it is set up in such a noninstitutional way that it's hard to find my way around and to locate people, but my overall impression was good. There are a couple of nice little restaurants and pubs up at the college. Things are getting going for the next year....emails are beginning to fly to new students. I now have my first cell phone (mobile) so that I won't miss a beat in the student world. Texting is extremely popular over here. Even advertisements often provide a special number for text inquiries. So I took the plunge to become a cell-carrying member of society, at least for now.
Many of my settling-in details have been accomplished so I am now faced with free time to relax and days that begin with me not knowing what will fill their hours. It's a nice change and a state of being that I do not seek naturally. So now I find this gift in my lap and I am very grateful. I will keep you posted from here as time goes on. And on that note, please keep me in your loop as the year goes on!
Ta Ta from Totnes,
Claire
P.S. Sorry this is so epic....I just realized that it really DOES go on forever! I have lots of time now, but don't worry, they won't be this long in the future.
Tuesday, 13 May 2008
The Incredible Dartington Rope Swing
Chris and I found this secret swing while wandering through the woods on a leisurely walk to Dartington one day. Since that day we have returned many times and shown many people to the thrill of the rope on the hill.
Journey to Helsinki: Writings from the Road
6 April, 2008 Leaving Home Totnes to Brighton
Funny how not knowing enables me to be open. Not knowing what to be worried about leaves the stage clear for a brilliant improvisation.
According to Becky’s Uncle:
The Danes invaded Scotland and many English words have come from this event.
There are Scandinavian settlements on the Isle of Sky…. (Where some of my ancestors came from).
7 April, 2008 Brighton, UK to Ede, Netherlands
Mark said that the water 12 miles off UK port belongs to the UK. But like birds passing through arbitrary human political boundaries, the waves wash through this border, effortlessly erasing with each tide. This journey could be about borders. It could be about passing through borders; transgressing against our own borders; creating new borders within this new quaternary of travelers; quietly reinforcing some borders and braking-down others within our minds.
Today we’ve passed from land to sea and back to land; from England to France, Belgium and the Netherlands. I don’t know the places we’ve driver through today. I no more feel that I know them than I did before, however I know of them. They have become real to me. Brussels has moved from an ethereal place in a conversation to a destination on a motorway sign.
8 April, 2008 Ede, Netherlands to Lagow, Poland
There is no speed limit on the German motorways and people abide by this suggestion, obediently whizzing past us. The roads themselves are excellent, many of them built by Hitler, who used them to quickly transport his armies. To benefit now from Hitler’s initiative turns me cold. However in the US, particularly in the Los Angeles basin, the roads built by General Motors that replaced the cable cars and tramlines have created another set of terrible problems. Are roads always built to make a few people richer? The hundreds of lorries on the roads seem to answer this question. It’s strange to witness food and goods on route to the store shelves where we are used to seeing them.
9 April, 2008 Poland Lagow to Lucien, Poland
Small roads have led us through the heartland of Poland. Much of the land has been flat, open fields planted with something that looks like turnips. Many fields are being tilled and are yet unplanted. At one stage in the navigation adventure we were directed by signs to a little road running along a field which was paved with rounded cobbles. It was a sweet road reminiscent of past times. Men working on the bank above looked at us with sober weathered faces and dark mustaches as we drove by. When we decided we were not on the right road we turned around. The men were not amused, but we asked them and they directed us to the longer paved route. On this paved road we noticed a section with chunks of pavement missing and underneath the ancient cobbles showed through. The thin and recently added venire of modernity only seems to go so deep in Poland.
Following locational information provided by Anna’s research, we found our way to Buskupin, an Iron Age settlement that had originally been built on an island in the middle of a lake. In time the heavy wood and earthen fortified settlement sank the island was preserved in the acidic oxygen-free environment of the lake. 2600 years later a schoolteacher out with his class for a fieldtrip in the area, noticed some stumps sticking out of the water. It was then excavated and partially reconstructed. The exceptional preservation of the wood provided accurate data for construction of 1 meter above ground. The way that the wood was cut, laid etc. was all documented and followed in the reconstruction. My resistance to reconstruction faltered in experiencing the settlement and knowing the accuracy of its basis. The reconstruction allowed us to experience an interpretation of the architecture that existed over 2500 years ago in Poland at that lake.
10 April, 2008 Poland Lucien to Bialoweiza, Poland
On the journey I am struck by how one thing leads to another. On both nights in Poland a shot in the dark has led to warm beds and an interesting experience. If Mark had not seen a sign for camping and we had not decided to go right instead of left at a fork in the road we would be experiencing a different reality now. This happens all the time in life I am certain, but when traveling I suddenly become aware of it.
11 April, 2008 Bailoweiza Park, Poland
We decided to drive to the top of the restricted area of Bialoweiza National Park away from the more populated lower area. With our heightened sense of observation and eagerness to explore everything was fascinating and worthy of a photograph. We found large piles of Bison shit, many footprints, and what we now know to be tinder fungi. Mark found a stick and began to whittle it with a piece of flit he found along the trail as well. As he walked around with the stick he noticed the tinder fungi along the way, tapping them with his stick. Each one made a different sound depending on its size. The forest became a place for fungi orchestra.
12 April, 2008 Bialoweiza, Poland to National Park, Lithuania
At 6 am we set off on a guided tour with Eric the resident biologist/ornothogist at the park. His knowledge of the area, its species, its history and his personal history with the place for the past 30 years created a thick tangible atmosphere. Through his sometimes broken English we had a window into his world of birdcalls and stories told of animals in the forest left by interaction with it and each other. Everywhere we looked he found a sign of some animal presence or the web of relationships within the ecosystem – seeds dropped on the path by a blackcap, rings pecked into a tree by a woodpecker, vole homes, and the inhabitants of a fallen tree habitat.
13 April, 2008 National Park, Lithuania to Uulu, Estonia
I am awake before everyone this morning. The air is calm and cool with a gentle breeze coming off the lake. I went out to the little dock below our campsite to feel the water and the lake was a deep grey. There were ducks bobbing and plunging in now and then for food. I woke to the sound of a woodpecker. Its rapid-fire tap-peck-roll now accompanies my writing in short bursts at 20 beats per second.
We found the bee-keeping museum perched on a grassy hill. Scattered down the hill were long birch bark and hollow log beehives lying lengthwise on little legs. Each one was a sculpture, displaying great care, craftsmanship and knowledge of bees. We walked the extensive grounds discovering the numerous beehive types and designs - intricately carved logs showing complex scenes with carefully places holes for the bees to enter and exit, free standing life-size people in traditional Lithuanian clothing with entry holes at their navel, traditional hives with reed bundle roofs, and rows of beehive boxes colorfully painted and decorated as miniature Lithuanian homes. I longed to meet the craftspeople and to see the place abuzz with bees in the summer. Bee culture and the human – bee relationship is extensive and deep I think. Each culture seems to have honey hidden in it somewhere. I have become fascinated by honeycomb.
Driving through the Baltic States my ignorance about their peoples and their histories is almost tangible. Strange that even with my general ignorance of history that I rely on it more for context and cultural reference than I realize. What was it like to live here under soviet rule? What was it like before that? What changed when they joined the European Union? How did the two World Wars affect them? So many unanswered questions elicited by the passing landscape.
We drove straight through Latvia without stopping. 10 kilometers before the Estonian border we pulled off the road to park by the Baltic Sea and ran out onto the sand. Anna and Becky put their feet in. And then in true campers’ “English Style” we made tea on the camp stove in the frigid wind. We gulped the tepid tea and drove on to look for a campsite.
14 April, 2008 Uulu to Tallinn, Estonia
On our way a peninsula famous for migratory bird watching, we stopped at a ruined Orthodox church, destroyed during the communist regime and converted for use as grain storage. The interior was beautiful with a fallen in roof opening out to the blue sky echoed by ultramarine paint remnants on the walls.
At the peninsula on the Baltic called Puise Nina, we found a lovely lapping tide, emerald wet hair seaweed, migrating bird flocks, and a beach to comb. On the beach I was stunned to find a fossil covered in the honeycomb pattern with which I had become fascinated the day before. As we looked more we found fossils of the pattern in all sizes and all variations of thickness.
15 April, 2008 Tallinn, Estonia to Helsinki, Finland
Quick muesli in a cup and off to find the chocolate shop at the Master’s Square that we spotted the night before. We found it transformed by daylight. The artist cooperative shops around the parameter were just opening their doors. The array of chocolate drinks was incredible: from orange-ginger, sea salt-honey-vanilla, rum-raison-chile to one with Gorgonzola cheese! I collected sounds and asked the barista to tell us the menu in Estonian. She also described the history of the Master’s Square, pointing out that it contained the oldest building in Tallinn, which was once used as a women’s prison. The shop overflowed with sumptuous smells, colors, tastes, textures, history and creative culture.
16 April, 2008 Grassroots Conference Helsinki, Finland
Our trip by car to the conference was referenced and commended in relation to the environmental impact of bringing people from disparate places together for such an event. I have yet to compare the environmental impact of the four of us flying or driving to Helsinki. Regardless of the question of the carbon footprint, for us the journey was a preposition for arrival. We arrived knowing how the land morphs, changes and stays the same from the island of England across the continent and up to Finland. My mind, if not my body, has begun to conceive of the natural, physical, cultural and psychological distance from there to here. We have driven through National borders and felt their absence. We have crossed natural borders (rivers, forests, lakes, and hills) and noticed their presence. We have followed our noses and stumbled upon beauty, sadness, depression and happiness. We have been lost and have found our way again. Having done these things, arriving at the conference feels different. We experienced a striking example of the speed of travel to richness of experience and connection to place ratio. Walking with a beehive on one’s back, so slowly that the bees could find their way back to it along the route is the highest ratio. Flying is the lowest. Our journey fell somewhere comfortably in the middle.
Language and communication, though sidelined in certain ways during this journey because of our choice to remain focused on natural points of interest and camping, came closely into focus at the conference. It was conducted in both Finnish and English and simultaneous translation was available in both languages. During presentations in Finnish I found myself preoccupied, wondering about the tones, approaches, moods, styles, and speeds of the translators. This new layer mediating the already complex, multilayered phenomena of communication was simultaneously necessary, frustrating, beautiful and confounding. “Accurate translation” reminds me of “objective research.” There was one translator who was difficult for me to follow, another whose clarity drew me in and either or neither may or may not have conveyed the character of the original Finnish phrases being translated. I sat in wonder at the collection of speakers of different languages drawn together by a common interest.
At the evening conference reception while reindeer meat on crackers was passed around, strong, seemingly-proud-to-be-Finnish women sang songs and laughed together. If I could gage a culture’s embrace of it’s humanity it’s children’s willingness to burst into song, these Finnish women artists gave a good representation for their culture. I felt a yearning to be a part of a culture in which bursting into song at a conference reception was normal.
17 April, 2008 Helsinki, Finland to the Baltic Sea
At the evening conference reception while reindeer meat on crackers was passed around, strong, seemingly-proud-to-be-Finnish women sang songs and laughed together. If I could gage a culture’s embrace of it’s humanity, it’s children’s willingness to burst into song, these Finnish women artists gave a good showing for their culture. I felt a yearning to be a part of a culture in which bursting into song at a conference reception was normal.
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