Austmarka | 1 degree | wet + dull
plan was
to go
back to town
to walk along
the river glomma
buy something
nice to eat
revisit
the old town
alarm went off
still dark
expected that
+ tipping
down with rain
checked BBC weather
the rain’s
here to stay
get back
into bed
have discoverd that
with a fan oven
you can
can make your toast
and dry your hair
simulataneously
if standing close enough
house is
v quiet
Norwegian artist
left early
won’t be back
til Mon
no public transport
at w/ends
the other two
sleep on and off
all day
alone in the studio
plan and plot
and test things out
using newly aquired
editing skills
for most
of the day
pleased that
some of the
complex skills
have stuck
sadly
it all looks
quite boring
just trees
and more trees
and bits of river
and ice
at a loss
search around
for inspiration
on vimeo
you tube
a story
some lyrics
artists’ sites
music videos
anything will do
to shake it
out
three weeks
and there should
be something
to see
apart from
this stupid blog
perhaps it
needs gestation
a period of
filtration
it can take
more than a year
to find the thing
that kicks it off
not sitting around
tho’
for inspiration
to arrive
or any of that
kind of crap
have to
hunt it down
or wait it out
or do something else
don’t leave
the house all day
it rains
continuously
it could be Wales
daily diet of news
and stuff
appears on facebook
an odd
and chilling mix –
bombing in Syria
shoot-outs in
California
…hey let everyone
have a gun – in school,
in hospital …
it’s safer that way…
dogs playing the piano
anti-war protests
shrinking public education
cutting the Cass
exclusive and not exclusive
art events in trendy places
endless exhibitions, lectures and seminars
banks paying less tax
a dog reunited with his owner
best films in 2015
how do you know if someone
wants to have sex ?
Art Basle
albino squirrels
Pistorious, Goddard
Dali Lamma, Miro
Bjork, Peter and the Wolf
artists + climate change
Paris …..
it’s enough to
send you crazy
no wonder it’s
hard to concentrate
what’s hard to
manage tho’
is the absence
of an end
a show, exhibition, screening
it’s hard
to aim at
nothing
need a place, a space
a date, a deadline
see the work
in terms of
where and how
a process that
unravels to
the end
Austmarka | 0 degrees | sunny + cloudy
missed the
morning sun
instead take
a mid afternoon walk
to the
other lake
the pale
meandering road
is slippery
underfoot
stick to
gritty verges
past the
noisy waterfall
past big white houses
lit up inside
and bigger farms
outbuildings
painted with iron-oxide
smaller ochre
shacks and sheds
dot the
edge of
the lake
there’s no-one about
almost silent
a car
a crow
a distant tractor
they package
the hay
in white
polythene
bundles
like giant
insect eggs
on the side
of the road
someone has made
wooden animals
a deer and
a moose
the rest
of the day
slips through
my fingers
unsettled
distracted
sit around
drinking tea
eating toast
trying to
make more space
on my computer
then daydreaming
drifting
this time
next week
it’ll all
be over
afternoon
drifts into
evening
sit in the studio
the huge black
windows
repeatedly mirror
the space within
dotted with
faint halos
of amber light
two figures sit
heads bent over
flickering screens
get out the glue
and spagehtti
all fingers + thumbs
make another
construction
based on
open windows
at Villa Stenersen
its a compulsive activity
half watching
back-to-back episodes
of Black Books
laughing out loud
almost in tears
the canadian artist
makes coffee
a signal
the start of her day
nearly the end of mine
Austmarka | minus 3 degrees | fog + snow
have lost
a day
somewhere
think it involved,
looking at my
photos,
a late afternoon walk
as the sun went down
in a forest
of iced
christmas trees
not much
happens here
day to day
the point
of the blog,
in a way,
was to have
a daily task
to prevent
excessive
introspection
to pay attention
to notice
and record
but it’s
tricky
trying to find
something
new to notice
every day
the fog hovers
overhead
all day
at the shop
the manager
shows me
his special offers
risgrøt – rice pud
spekeskinke – ham
julepølse – christmas sausage
settle for eggs
and satsumas
follow the river
up to
the frozen lake
the ice
nudges the shore
in broad scoops
like those in
Munch’s prints of
figurers on the shore
right near the edge
is the sauna
that burnt down
last year
re-built
it opens
once a month
we are
welcome
to strip off
get sweaty
and jump
in the lake
too awkward
too hypothermic
anyway….
back at the studio
SD card is full
and lap top
slips to the floor
causing the screen
to break inside
a black wedge shape
appears in the corner
plus stripes
and flickering
but it works
then get a message
saying
it’s full
too many photos
too much film
too much stuff
prune and pare
file and archive
until
there’s a
tiny bit
of space left
to carry on
good news
tho’
permission granted
to photograph + film
Arne Korsmo’s
modernist villa
in Oslo
book 2 nights
instead of one
in the city …
the Norwegian artist
kindly lists
galleries and museums
to visit
tells me
queen sonja (of Norway)
is a painter!
but was told
to give up
when she asked
Jakob Weidemann,
well known
abstract painter
to teach her
Warhol did
her portrait
work on
the video
takes all afternoon
to align
2 clips
side by side
of jet black
flowing water
one flowing up
one down
not sure what
else to add
am happy with that…
have 100’s
of clips/photos
of trees and lakes
frosted stuff and forests
rippling reflections
but like the
water best
turned
upside down
sideways
flowing the
wrong way
it’s nature
is the same
but it becomes
something else
all
this landscapey
stuff tho’
is tricky – well covered
this site specific way
of working
of thinking
means looking
behind the scenes
under the carpet
in the shadows
searching for clues
for a way in
Austmarka | minus 1 degree | bright + crisp
the light
in the morning
is vivid pink
until the sun
comes up
around
quarter to eight
by the
lower lake
the rough grass
is cropped
v short
white, hoary
film and photograph
the blunt stubble
the long shadows
the trickling streams
not sure
where
all these images
are leading
a wildernessy
pattern of
dark + light
vertical + horizontal
looking for patterns
motifs
searching for
a sort of chorus
or refrain
or something
afternoon,
well it’s
almost all over
by half past two
the moon is
knocking around
somewhere
and the light
in the studio
becomes cooler + bluer
scrub a few things
from the list
clearing unwanted stuff
from the hardrive
updating website
causing some
dissatisfaction
an overhaul
is needed
reading, writing emails
keeping in touch
keeping residency plates
spinning
photos
3D stuff + shadows
and ‘the’ norwegian video
already unweildy
the norweigian artist
stops to chat
shows me photos
of her last residency
more remote
than this
alone
in a settlement
of just 3 people
3.5km from
a village
she spent
2.5 months
painting + painting
no internet
a cat + radio
for company
peeing in the woods
watching the lake
hardcore stuff
after supper
talk about
films + video
with the young man
from Taiwan
who looks at
my efforts
+ asks me
‘do you like
to show humanity
in your films?’
ummm…
blimey…
err…
there might be
a distillation
of something…
a sense
a feeling
an undercurrent
uncertainty + anxiety
nothing explict
lurking somewhere
but feel unwilling
or disinterested in
pining down
meaning
under
the feathery duvet
late into
the night
Knausgaard
at last
is finished
compelling
bleak
+ sad in
an everyday way
bedrooms
are unheated
floaty crispbread
type curtains
don’t keep out
the chill
that arrives
in the night
shattering sleep
turning limbs
into cold shards
untidily entangling
duvet with sleeper
into a tight ball
sunday morning
tea and toast
burn the toast
most mornings
somehow
the smoke + smell
evoke my son
a fellow
incinerator
hang around
chatting
washing up
sweeping floors
then
look up
big flakes
of snow
are falling
stirred to action
grab my camera
hurry keenly
to the river
try to film
snow falling
on the water
…not easy
brought a flannel
to dry off
the camera
but this is
fuktig snø
and soon
everything is
very soggy
it’s soon over
so settle down
to sorting
ordering
the hundreds
of photos
and video clips
I’ve taken
spend some time
faffing around
on the internet
leapfrogging bits
of information
images, texts
leading this way
and that
until a couple of
hours has gone
forever…
then touch base
through email
sending pics
and checking
all is well
with husband
with daughter
with son
with mum
etc
son asks
what I want for xmas
is it that
time already ?
start planning trips
to museums in Oslo
catching
something new
would be good
something unknown
come across
typical example of
Norwegian Utlitarianism
a modernist place
for a financier
ribbon windows
and pilotis
clean white interior curves
giving way to
rippled pink walls
chrome furniture
sitting on
a big black circle
outside forms include
cylinders and blocks
with splashes of colour
cobalt blue
bitter orange
looks inspiring
for photos + film
it’s only open
once a week
the halfway mark
has been + gone
ten days left
and plenty still
to do
but now time to eat
salmon potatoes salad
piquant pickle
now a glass
of white wine
would go with this
a treat
but for alcohol
a trip to
Vinmonopolet
is needed
a government owned
alcohol retailer
selling expensive stuff
to curb
alcoholic tendencies
it fairly distributes
and limits economic profit
socially responsisble
no doubt
but
quite galling
