Donald Rodney Visceral Canker – A Must Go
‘the empty wheelchair courses through its various trajectories on a sad and lonely journey of life, a journey to nowhere. Its movements repeat, like an ever recurring memory, a memory of another life and another journey' (in Chambers, 1998: 54)
There is a Distinct Possibility that We Were not All Going to Come Back – Lab 3, Belgium Bound Part 1: Ghent
Déjà vu – that is not quite the phrase I need but all through lab 3, I had the same kind of feeling. Maybe more like stepping into a mirror and looking back, or a shiver I couldn’t shake. Like the society you left behind (in this case, for 4 days) seemed to have everything backwards or upside down – we spend so much time working out which way is up, everything seems to continue to look down, (or more importantly) there is so little left to support the community who need it the most. ‘The grass is always greener’ effect was strong and I am totally aware of it, Belgium has significant social and political turmoil, but culture and community is robust and well invested in, the discord seems to bring individuals and community with it…
Nourishment for The Mind – Destination Cairo
If Lab 1 at Hawkwood was soul filling, this experience was more about fuelling energy for critical thinking and reflection! Very much a roller-coaster of emotion, but held and happy, sometimes feeling excited and energised and sometimes like a 10-year-old being presented with Disney Land tickets. There were some significant bumps and interesting moments along the way to do with accessibility and tiredness, but I did have the most epic time and massive thanks to my creative enabler team Jen and Dilys. Shout out needed to Dan and Nene for being the amazing organisers, the wider supporting network and my fellow fellowshipers.
The Biggest Impact Blog
After an epic, amazing, very (Very) busy, deeply interesting, energised, creatively stimulating and poignant three or four weeks, two projects have come to their conclusion. There is always a sad, melancholy kind of feel at these times. The companionship with fellow artists mixed with a surge of energy and enthusiasm is a momentum building wave. It is stressful and worrying (probably needs rethinking with health and care point of view), but those emotions are swept along with pure excitement and aliveness. It is a spark, a shining in the eye, I get a strong image of my eyes twinkling like stars in my own imagination. There probably not, but that sense of falling over one’s thoughts because they are tumbling faster than language or imagery or computer processing power…..yeah people, I’m not on drugs, I was on two journey’s which felt so meaningful!