Day 8
Nearly seven trenches dug and filled: I’m getting there! Despite the repetitive nature of my task, it is certainly satisfying to watch the piece grow at such a rate. In contrast, it is quite alarming to watch the heap of earthen chunks that are being dislodged grow ever larger. I have been thinking during the week about the possibilities for this turf. I have considered leaving it where it stands as part of the work, to show evidence of what has happened, although I dont think this is really necessary. Perhaps it should be arranged into a new formation, to reflect the sense of ongoing process that is here in the work. The excess from one task becomes the object of the second, and so on.
Jonathan shows me a great book about Mario Giaccomelli, an Italian photographer who documented rural life in Puglia and other regions of Italy. He created a series of black and white photographs of ploughed fields, taken from above. Some of these he has intervened with himself and created swirling scours in the land, others are as he found them. The linear markings in these fields are similar to those I am making here. I wonder how they wil compare in some months time.
The highlight of today has to be the extraordinary sight of what I think is a sparrowhawk swoop down and snatch a small bird from the air just yards from my face. I hear the rapid beating of wings and look up just in time to witness the catch. A triumphant screech, and the magnificent bird is off into the hills. Fantastic.
At the end of the day I have a wander across the meadow at the back of the chalet to enjoy a moody (and chilly) sunset. After talking with Helen, Jonathan and Sam, another artist who works in this part of the world, it is encouraging to see that it is possible to work successfully as an artist and live in a rural, relatively isolated community, a combination that I had never imagined to be very realistic. My hopes of getting away from the city certainly seem more achieveable than they did ten days ago.
Rona Smith
