IRIDESCENT, GLIMMERING
Willow sent me this photo of the finished roof section,it all works and is extremely stable as well as a beautiful shape. The ribbons are iridescent through the sun in the image , and I guess we will make use of the ambient lighting and our own spotlights to recreate this effect at Origin.
I have been writing out the roof ribbons as we are going to pre-weave them on Friday at Willow’s studio. Although they may not be readable from below (though am tempted to keep a telescope in the space) , I think what is written must be meaningful in the context of the work- start as you mean other to go on….So I decided to use the following word groups, written 8 times (one for each roof arm) ;
the senses (sight, hearing, taste etc)
the elements (fire, earth, air etc)what the elements do (eg, wood feeds fire, fire creates earth)
Craft materials (ceramics, book art, glass etc)
Craft forms (vessels, mats, mirrors, neckpieces etc)Textile terms (carding, kilim,selvedge etc)
The idea is that the text of the textile describes the very materials of the space and its surrounding, and – hopefully- attracts more of it to be written about.
I am still working on the specific instructional text for the public, I don't think it’s a question anymore, but a more general 'call to mind', like I did with the loom. Will write more on this later.
Cooling down in the english rain and wind, allows clearer thought and physical work to begin again. Although it was a very intense trip to the Alhambra (due to the heat and vast swathes of tourists, like me), I am glad I went as it confirmed my inutition re the colour palette of the structure and surround- desert colours- sand, gold,rust, red, black, enclosed in a deep cerulean blue. Also the use of geometry and the stilness and beauty of the spaces as you look up was inspiring.
The focus now is on the finishing of the roof. Willow is doing this as we had to focus on sewing it together and ribbon weaves when Raphaella and I went up last week, and it's slow, laborious work which takes longer than any of us realised. But, as the Sufis say 'Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet'.
I met with Hattie again and have chosen a bright cerulean blue voile for the surround, which will enclose the space like a transparent sea and allow the public to glimpse and be glimpsed at intervals as they pass the space. We are going to try out a couple of meters of this on a scaffold when we go up to the studio next week to pre-weave the roof. We hadn't planned to pre weave the roof but when we got it up and saw and felt the height, it became obvious that its not practical or possible to do this in public. So I am compliing texts, like poetic fragments, to write on the top section. I will use this to create an intention for how the work will live when it is finally put together for the 7th October.
