this morning has been productive. i have moved lots of cardboard to the project space and now feel really dusty. also i took marta (our ‘person’ at wyspa) to see the white cube. we asked at various workshops if it was theirs and kept being sent to another building after lots of walking and polish conversations we ended up at a land owners office. the fella in charge said it was scrap and nobody wanted it any more and even said he would arrange for it to be moved to the project space. hoorah. it is free too. double hoorah.
we have a meeting today with artist Grzegorz Klaman and we are visiting another solidarity exhibition so busy busy busy.
yesterday me and matt met the other 2artists in residence- louis & jess and tried to relay as much info as poss, shared the bus ‘home’, as well as food & beer.
i feel like i am now familiar with the town layout and have managed to remember the word for thank you, which i am hoping will see me through.
we’ve been to the solidarity museum this morning which was really engaging, not dry at all. i found a 10ftx10ft cube of polystyrene in the ship yard that i want to borrow and use to project onto if we can find out whose it is. in the museum it told of how during the strike the workers used to use sheets of it as a mattress so i am even keener to have my film rest on this giant cube.
just thought i have not mentioned my proposal.
my idea is to make a boat/raft, research solidarity songs and play these from speakers whilst navigating around the shipyard island filming. so the finished piece will be a film (?).i want it to act as a tribute to the place and its people, in an artistic fashion.
i have spoken with a man who runs tourist boat trips around the shipyard and this lovely man is willing to tow me behind his boat and even jump in and rescue me! i am hoping to borrow a small row boat and make a cardboard skin, i want it to look like a proper big ship, i discarded the idea of raft after seeing the shipyard-rafts dont belong here, plus there is not so much lying around that looks like raft material. ive purchased a 3cd set of solidarity songs that i may get translated so i can sing, record and play on the ‘ship’.
we are being shown the wyspa archive so that may lead to other treasures.
gonna go stick a sign on the paper recyling bin so as to start a ship material pile.
the POST INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION residency started on the 6th of may and runs until the 4th of june11, working out of wyspa institute of art in gdansk shipyard.
from when i 1st found out my proposal was succesful until i left from the airport i was frantically running around like a headless chicken. i had (for a change) a temporary part time job that required i worked, this added to trying to put an arts council funding application together for the 1st time & organise partner, kids & dog meant that i had a terrified glazed look of panic on my face for most of april.
i am here now and i have left the face behind.
after touring the shipyard area, town, historical sites, buses, trains n boat trips with roma & kate, curators of the project, oh and eating lots of wonderful fish we are now on our 1st day ‘in the office’. ive caught up with emails, uploaded photos and sent off my AC application. there has been rather too much wikipedia for one day tho. i am working on my imac from home as i couldnt run to a ibook + software – to fit it in hand luggage i had to angle grind the stand off, so it is looking like a sad amputee but luckily it survived the trauma and continues to work!
