Greendale tarn 24th August
We ascend the beck from near the edge of Wast Water. Dramatic waterfalls are disclosed by the curved valley and we stop frequently to look. Neither of us has visited this tarn before so there is more charge and anticipation in the air.
Finally we see it beneath the cliffs on one side and the curve of Seatallen on the other and in the distance Haycock and beyond Steeple.
Each tarn feels special and unique, each has its own valuable personality. Many tarns have the circular shape of a corrie – but then there are tarns like Sprinkling (sparkling) tarn and Angle tarn (at Patterdale) that are full of bays cliffs etc where the direction of exploration is not so much down and under as round the edges, into the inlets, and across to islands – these are reasons to linger, de-focus from any particular goal, leaving room for the aesthetic experience to enter which otherwise fails to appear in the presence of a too-insistent-objective . If we’re too focused on the goal we end up with the feeling of an immanence of something that fails to come to pass.
Greendale is the sort of tarn that lies between the two – not circular but nor is it as intricate as Angle tarn.
Another realisation occurs at this tarn – my/our style of art has changed as a result of the swims; but not only style – the format, for me, has changed from rectangular to circular. ( I think that Paul’s idea for the ‘Full Circle’ project on Morecombe Bay, which we completed two years ago, put the circle on our agenda.)
But there are further ramifications of the performance of ‘Swimcircle’ which are relevant – complete immersion in the subject of the art, immersion in the forces and sensations of the water; dissolving into the physical world rather than looking at it from a distance, from dry land; viewing the world from a horizontal swimming position, rather than standing; complete mingling with the subject matter rather than looking at it through the window of perspective produces a different art, necessarily involving the forces experienced in the immersion. Maybe this is all stuff already written in academic studies of performance art but this felt first-hand and therefore had depth to it.
Paul swam up and down, while I swam less this time having to adapt to the cold. Finding a small rock to use for the next post proved difficult as the tarn had a dark weedy bed strewn with boulders, but we finally locate one near the outlet just as we leave another fabulous body of water.
Richard
