Sometimes, the things that can really tire you out are the ones you least expect. Hence the recent silence – sorry ’bout that.
And I don’t have long… once Saulius has finished his freelance work, we’re off to some forest by some suburbs (of soviet-era apartments) to play with lasers. We’d been out in town till four this morning to find out what their limitations and capabilities are, and we want to try and find somewhere with less light so that the lasers are stronger.
Work is being made. Justin, Eero and Monica are getting right in to confronting a few local controversies, like homophobia, which I can only stand back and marvel at. It’s what I’d thought about before I arrived, but they have the combination of artistic and technical experience and a strong team connection. Their work this week was a performance, in private (you could look through the window) where they were to spend 20 hours together, communicating by any means other than using speech. Documentation was a minute-or-so video (as Eero said, who would want to see any more than that?) and a huge print of a polaroid they took of the three of them touching tongues. It was fabulous – not least because it emphasised the importance of the experience of learning to connect with people who you don’t know well and gaining something very strong and intimate as a result. It’s the basis, surely, for making very strong work. And of course, editing documentation is crucial.
I observe and try to learn. It’s easy to think of documentation as an afterthought, but so much gets missed that way. But then… When Saulius and I were playing with lasers last night, should we have made more effort to record the process of what we were doing, or was it more important to just get on with the job in hand?
More on next immediate post…run out of space…
