En Place

leave the Château de Sacy
mid morning
stuffing the car
with important stuff
off on another adventure
with J
Münster Skulptur Projekte
so little time to absorb
the last month

envisage a holiday
of relaxed ambling round
Münster
going to cafes, bars,
searching for, looking at
sculpture
usually though
holdays involve
being in the car
map panics and picnics
walking walking walking
outdoor exhaustion
foreign football
being together
trying to relax
hot and fragmented
sometimes lost
sometimes laughing

first thing is
to get to the shop
a day without bread
is too long !
cycle for the
last time to
grandfresnoy
it’s warm
the sky is low
the fields
of darkening gold
border
the empty road
outside the boulagnerie
are two old blokes
in their white vests
chatting

but not long left now
looking at the
work completed
can’t help thinking
is that it ?
four weeks
seems a long time
to be exclusively
engaged in making work
and nothing else
but it has passed
at first slowly, leisurely
then quickly quickly

in the
informal gallery
begin to dismantle
the pieces that
haven’t happened
…was hoping that
time would suggest
something – but it hasn’t
in the process
of unmaking
I begin to reform
and reconstruct
one piece at a time
intuitively
keeping to
an idea of a week ago
..and dismissed then
focus on not letting
the materials dictate
but keep things
balancing
being themselves
maintaining a casualness
…tricky stuff
an ongoing collaboration between
mind and matter
balance and form
am suspended between
thought and material…

there is a pile of
half formed things
in the workshop
things that haven’t worked
or haven’t found
a place
failed experiments
futile gestures
half formed things
disappointing
non-outcomes
but food for thought
a new language
is revealing itself
as I work and think
but feeling both
restless and tired
makes it hard
to concentrate
…to focus on
where it’s all leading
there are
loose ends
trailing strands
and little leaps of thought
and actions
that should propel me
into the next project
…whatever that might be

a final barbecue ensues
D brings his
grandchildren
both love the fire
and collecting sticks
they are sweet and
having fun
H has bought some
mackerel which is
singed outside
succulent inside
lovely
with cucumber and tomato
and wine
the overriding
smells of this trip
are woodsmoke
and bay leaves

an early start
editing photos
forming a clear layout
for the catalogue
8 pages
combining text and image
takes most of the morning
the printer goes on holiday
tomorrow
then back to supermarket
to get local paper
H is sure I’ll be in there
it took a while to find
the papers and magazines
are neither in the supermarket
…the woman on the till
looks shocked when I ask
where the papers are
nor in the bookshop
but in the ‘library’
a magazine shop
of course!
anyway there I am
under Sacy Le Petit
unsmiling
for some reason
and quoted
en français

at the supermaket
buy gâteau breton
with framboise
mmm
back at the chateau
a late lunch
some gateau
and then down
in the workshop
…sharing with a mouse today
hoping to stiffen
the fabric with glue
so it takes on a rigid form
but its flimsy still
want to pad out the
big frame
made in the first week
test out different
fabric folds and things
but it’s not quite happening
maybe needs stitching
and padding
to make long tubes…

D returns
cheerful and bluff
the bell rings
and we sit around
H’s kitchen table
woofers from
sweeden and paris
H and me
with bordeux
salami, hazelnuts
D is entertaining
in an old fashioned way
like he’s amusing his grandchildren
showing us his muscles
getting us to guess how old he is
(62)
not that I understand much
but it’s good to laugh
about lost hamsters
and the girls
from Colorado
who wanted
to use his shower

not quite all downhill after that
manage to stitch
some tubes
into a length of muslin
stuffing them with
bubble wrap
it’s got potential..

guests leave
R, a previous
artist in residence
packs his tent
his suasages and bacon
and drives off
taking all to the station
in Saint Pont Maxence
and suddenly it’s
as quiet as a convent

need some more materials
to test and try a few things
before I go
cycle to the Brico
my favorite shop
the cycling is good
for thinking
for plannng
and for just being
the roads are mostly quiet
and the cycle lanes are great

the cycling is quite tiring
even though it’s mostly flat
shuffle through
the afternoon and evening
in the workshop
in my room
and later
catching up with
family
their lives and
immediate needs