charlbury UK 2011

charlbury UK 2011

rewriting distance. notes.  week 1 

(July 11th till 16th 2011, with Miranda Tufnell in Charlbury-UK)
Staying at Middle Farm/Taston. Walk through the fields: commons, sheep, purple corn flowers, red poppies, a farmer and his two dogs.
Some ideas to start from:
  • Show Miranda ‘Repeating Distance’.
  • To work each week of research with one particular medium of writing: scroll, overhead, chalk board, PC, …
  • To work with the notions of ‘erasure’ and/or ‘overlay’ (cfr. palimpsest).
first day
 
Introducing Repeating Distance.
 
Major feedback from Miranda:
  • Right balance between ‘shared memory’ and using ‘the presence’ of the actual space.
  • Differences in rhythm between Lin and me. Use these rhythm changes.
  • To focus more on the duet than on the solos.
second day
 
Exercise to explore the space:
  • Close eyes – disorientate yourself a bit. Choose one spot that attracts your attention. Observe. Repeat this three times.
  • Describe to your partners what you observed.
  • Return to one of the original spots. Observe and write about it.
  • Read to your partners what you have written.
First memory: Tante Mit. Wood of her cupboards. Family tradition of wood turners. Ring patterns of trees.
Creating as conversation.
“To be in conversation is to enter into what flows in and amongst and between you. To be present in conversation is to speak of and speak to the world now…” (Miller Mair, Between thee and me, in: Between Psychology and Psychotherapy).
“Creating becomes a conversation when we enter a dialogue with whatever we are doing. In this conversing we are drawn along in the moment by moment flow of sensation, interchange and choice, rather than following a predetermined intention or idea. Conversations grow as we listen and explore – a constantly shifting process of discovery that changes in momentum, rhythm, clarity or chaos as we work.” (Miranda Tufnell, A widening field, p. 41)
“The presence of a partner, who goes with us in our journeys of imagination, making alongside of us, watching, looking at and sharing in what we create, enables us to get to know the life and significance of our images more deeply.” (Miranda Tufnell, A widening field, p. 42)
A companion is someone who accompanies you, who walks with you.
Writing exercise:
So many patterns, so many colours in something that at first sight is so homogenous. Desire I had already yesterday: to knock my head against it, like Steven used to do as a baby against the back of his wooden cradle. And the African song I would sing to him as a lullaby which was triggered of by Lin’s Inuit song: A i o wa jo wa, a i o wa nex. A song about Daoude Sane, the good dragon protecting  the village from evil.
More patterns, more colour, hidden behind a pillar, three dimensional: staples in the wood, cobwebs, Christmas ornaments.
The feeling of the pressure on the skull. “The thousand petal lotus. The crown of thorns.” (quoting Joseph Campbell)
Holes of different sizes – screws, nails, no woodworm, maybe mouse.
My grandmother polishing the wood with wax: ‘boenen’.
Caravaggio – Rembrandt – their use of light, inspired by the wood.
Exploring new relationships:
  • Solo – duo – working in trio.
  • Performer – witness – audience.
  • Witness decides when to join performer in duet.
  • Audience becomes witness.
  • Performer steps out and becomes audience.
  • In loop.
third – fifth day
 
Rewriting Distance. A new beginning. First part with Miranda in Finstock Hall.
Being cradled by the wood of the hall.
Opening up to more relationality.
Giving up the remembering to work only with the present.
Changing perspective constantly.
Doors frame. Windows frame. Carpets frame. The body centres.
Moving between one centre of attention becoming two, becoming one, becoming two,… Moving between circle and ellipse.
The wind playing with us. The wind playing with the space. The wind playing with our imagination.
Finding more height (as opposed to depth) in the work.
The power of the threshold between outside and inside. Playing with that.
The poetic potential of the microscopic: cobwebs, leftovers of Christmas ornaments,…
Where do we go from here?
To stay connected and let go.
Feeling stronger.
A couple of more walks.
The shadow of my hand on the paper.
Watching her approach, not realising she closed her eyes.
We cleaned/polished this floor with our bodies, many, many times.
Going back to the origin: the gloves, the lacework.
(Our) hands. To which Miranda added (her) feet and curious legs.
The weather being on our side.
The witness becoming a yellow floor before disappearing. The audience is the witness.
Thirdness. Tiha. Threes. Trees.
Letting go of the diagonal.
Portraits.
 
Guy Cools