I have become unclear on how I am defining work. Allan Kaprow would be proud of me, as the art/life boundaries are very blurred. In action research Judi Marshall refers to this as living life as inquiry – which can pose real problems for the artist's overdeveloped work ethic and the work/life balance.
I begin to see all of the ways people here encounter each other as contributing to the social and cultural capital of the community. I wish I could speak Danish. When they can't find the right word to describe Christiania they hold their arms to form a circle, like an embrace.
The Greenlanders are the only ones here allowed to have their own house. I think the Inuit are to Denmark what the Native Americans are to the USA, with the same legacy of social disintegration and health problems. When I worked with the 'rootless' in the past it was called community care, but felt more like social cleansing. We were paid of course, even though it wasn't very much.
I slept badly last night. I started reading fairy tales by Hans Christian Anderson before i went to sleep and I blame it on him. Dark stuff! He's a national icon now but unhappy in his life – rejected by conventional society in Denmark at the time because of his low beginnings. The national symbol of Denmark is the swan. Christiania is full of ugly ducklings.
I reworked some of Christiania's symbols yesterday. I embellished the Christiania flag which is red with three yellow dots, to connect our brands and develop a commemorative plaque that marks this collaboration on the Academy’s Happiness in the Workplace Awards. The backdrop is the woodstock outside where I am staying – every house has one, but I don't know who does all the hard work for the artist house supplies. I used it last night to make a fire in the woodburner. It's July but freezing. There is a special word in Danish – hygge – something like cosy, as a state of mind and a physical thing. It was very hygge.
