It is my habit not to take my computer with me when I travel. What the precise reason for this is I do not know, but I suspect that it has to do with a combination of maintaining focus and being fully immersed in the experience wherever I may be. The downside to this is that I steadily get behind in documenting my work as it happens. The up side is that I am forced to create work by making. I recall the OLOS2018 residency where I was the only visual artist not too arrive with a Mac in hand which saw me going out into the forest and really getting dirty with my hands as I experimented with both natural materials as well as what was freely available to use. The outcome was, interestingly enough, a video piece that captured a collaboration between myself and a Baroque singer titled I am because you are. I remain convinced that it would not have been as successful as it was if physical making had not been in the forefront of the experience during the residency in Portugal.
Which takes me to the last three months where, following my solo show titled The in-between I have been incredibly blessed to have been part of a remote residency in the Tankwa Karoo 2019TankwaArtscape, a quick trip to London to participate with three other multi-talented musicians in a Baroque concert for a live-drawing performance, as well as being part of another experimental and collaborative performance as part of 2019VrystaatArtsFestival for which Miss/Seen has been nominated for a Blinker, of which those awarded will soon be announced! This then, all without the computer:)
There is a momentum to this experience that is both thrilling and completely exhausting. I find myself now trying to re-find my new place, my new pace. It feels, oddly enough, a bit like coming off the rolling escalators at an airport where one hits a different surface and with immediate effect, needing to re-orientate step and tempo. I also find myself more appreciative of smaller things that are seemingly less important as well as drawn to tinier actions. I am noticing detail in an augmented way perhaps.
And grounding myself through breath and visualisation . . .
I have roots growing from under my soles . . .
photo credit: @JorgeSalgado taken during the OLOSResidency2018