Today I think I wanted to talk about the freedom to create in the physical and mental place of elsewhere. I am surprised by the fact that there is very little pressure for me here to complete a specific project now. Mostly this is a daily pressure that is self-imposed. I think the lose of it here stems from the fact that both the directors, Steph and George, can either be found (or heard) discussing upcoming artist or plans for elsewhere, reorganizing functional and non functional spaces, or working across from one another at their desks. They work around the clock with the result feeling like a cocoon of creativity and obsession all balled into one. (By the way, I had decided throughout the course of the day that Steph and George will have to wait till the end, I will be able to share so many more stories of them by then) This also fuels the rest of us to work like this. With an unseen clock and constant live bodies working on their own investigations, I feel like there will be more time tomorrow not to mention how much time I have compared to at home. I know I am less than a quarter of a way through my time here so I guess that helps to keep my usually strict (and sort of relentless) work ethic at bay also. I am able to keep remembering that this is a place for me to think.... and collect, process, gather and move outside of my normally white walled studio. I feel as if I am taking full advantage.
So although I just finished ranting about work ethic, I spent most of my day either exploring on a bike ride, sitting at the Green Bean coffee shop emailing about the CRL, or talking to the other artists. I have purposely avoided much mention of them. Mostly, this is because a communal place like this could quickly turn into a soap opera, especially with young interns in the mix. I am really thinking of this blog as a time to process random thoughts on my work and the place. I want to have a record of the experience but feel like keeping up with all the household drama would weigh me down. So although I find some of the best moments have been chatting with the interesting people here, I will work at keeping them unnamed.
I find it impossible to think of only one project to work on while I am here. I have discussed this with some of the other artists too. It seems that with none of the outside world obligations that general bog us down, we have so much space freed up in our heads that only one project is minimal for the empty space. I am thinking about the lights that I am rewiring for the incoming artists (we lost one today and one tomorrow..but gain 4 more this week) and setting up the light station so they can properly light their work spaces and the dark little corners each will find to claim as I did. I felt a huge need for lights in this maze and came up with 10 lamps but with bad wiring...so we purchased the wire and plugs and I am officially the electricity girl. This is something my friend Chris in Austin would chuckle over..... it does not stop with the lights, people have come to me about all kinds of electrical inquires. Transformation in the microcosm is vast! So anyway, light is being given as my communal gift to elsewhere. Second is my wardrobe project. This is followed by the installation that will live in my bathroom. I decided late this afternoon that the objects...characters made from existing objects covered in fabric or stuffed should be made and the space will be dictated by the objects. I am trying to be very scientific (as always) with my process but in reality, I am scared of the cleaned out space. I am going to have breakfast in there tomorrow and hope that walls will tell me what do to.
Since I am too tired to write more, but I do not want to forget....here is a list of subjects I want ot cover tomorrow:
-Freedom of work ethic and visitors
-The amazing dynamic between our beloved directors
There are already so many elsewhere rules that adding a writing regiment is uncalled for...
elsewhere codes to live by:
1. nothing new comes in without a yellow price tag fixed to it immediately...this ensures some sort of tracking system for what the store originally contained. This seems so interesting to me in terms of the editing process Sylvia already imposed by filling her store with particulars. By keeping track of 'what is from here' there is some record of the woman and her sensibilities. Not to mention that there is no need for more stuff.
2. nothing made while you are here goes home with you,....this keeps the life in the place and keeps you coming back.. I remember my grandmother telling me that I could not take the Barbie she had for me at her house to mine, if I did her house would not be as special. In this case it feels like a test to control a persons natural tendency to want to have and hold.
3. don't take stuff off others' desks...we all have a desk that we can safely place items that we have to temporarily love and be inspired by. This also allows others to observe what you are into and add to your process if they want to...again we are working in a living collaborative.
4. don't crush other's existing work...it seems that is particular areas there is more of a designated space, like the small projects that are contained within a room or closet and are typically upstairs. These are established and can be added upon but not really deconstructed. The small installations that live in the 'store' and in the corners of the living spaces are free game and usually change all the time. So, it is a fine line and most of the time I still feel a bit wary
5. don't destroy things...use objects, but it all should remain somehow reusable.
6. nothing gets thrown away...everything seems to be part of the process and may be a material that someone would like to use, so food and maybe dust makes it into the can.
Today I cleaned out the little 'closet' that turned out to be a bathroom. This seems typical of what elsewhere is...a constant place of discovery and surprise. This little place I found is next to a window and is manageable for the time I am here. Now that I have removed a large table of things like machine motors, baskets, casters, windows, glass, baby carriages, plus other objects that have a function unknown to me....I can move onto cleaning it and deciding what the hell to do with the toilet. The wall consist of lead based paint so I wore a respirator, gloves, plus very attractive goggles to clean out the 5"X 6" space today. It rained so it was a perfect day for it. Now I have to wait to see what will happen. I think I mostly needed a controlled space and now I think I can build objects that will live in the space. I am creating characters in my mine such as the ones that are in my studio at home, but with a much larger vocabulary to pull from. I am amazed by the sense of exploration and freedom I feel with the endless resources here. If I want to build big and with lots of fabrics...I can and am not restricted by my usual apprehension to buy unnecessarily or edit before I even make it back to the studio. This is so refreshing. Tomorrow I am heading out with my new fancy scissors to cut samples of the over 500 bolts of fabrics that are here.
Yesterday I sat in one chair for a few minutes...like 5. I watched as everyone (in different intervals) around me came around the corner on their way around the 'circle' with a look of complete confussion paired with an apprehensive stroll or a determined scowl with a fast pace walk. The circle is the trek from 606 Elm St. through 608 Elm St. and covers the kitchen, store, library, back hall, fabric workshop, bathroom, back door, alley and back into the kitchen door. The flow is constant with stops along the way including the toy bind, the hardware store, and many other stations that are set up to find some order in the chaos. I thought of my grandfather, whom notoriously sets down his cup of coffee only to lose it almost immediately. (He generally proceeds to drink from an old cup..luckily they are still there from days past) This is the way I feel here. I put something down and it gets swallowed. It MAY still be in the same spot and my eyes can not locate it through all the other fasinating and changing objects. The other senerios is that someone has come along right behind you and picked up that object. People have free rein to collect, move, recollect, remove all day (and late into the night) until their hearts content. It is amazing to see things shift around the place. I will grab something and find a home for it then I will see it in a new place in the course of the day. This creates two buildings full of people constantly asking if anyone has seem so and so. It also makes me feel crazy like maybe I never really had that object in the first place.
At first, I was hording....feeling like I might need that screw driver later so I will set it in a place and make a mental note. This system is not in the spirit of elsewhere. It is un avoidable that things stay and that you rememebr all the mental notes you ahve made. It feels likthe way I image people with no short term memory feel.
Also, if you set something down, there really is a chance it will be lost... but not for always. I heard the happy yells of Sarah Lee yesterday as she found her Tammy Fay Baker book. All of this is a constant episode of the childhood game Memory... but a bit more confussion with the addition of 11 other people moving the pieces everytime you leave the room to go to the bathroom. You make a mental note of somethings placement, and someone has moved the object of your specified marker within the course of the afternoon.
The search of things is how I spent yesterday....walking in the circle and looking for my lost coffee (or scissors in my case). I did discover a beautiful little closet that I am going to inquire about today. Maybe I can fill it with these stuffed characters that are in my mind and coming to life on my desk...picture to follow. I am also still struck by these piles of clothes and have picked out a weeks worth that I think I will wash and wear next week then tag and box. My final idea is the Light Works Shelf. I am rewiring lights and making a shelf home for them to live. I was in desperate need of light in the space upon arrival so maybe a set place for the rewired lamps will help out the next round of incoming folks. I will track the time it takes inthe next 4 weeks to move and dissiminate through the space. So those are the things I am thinking about this morning.......
ps. The best part of elsewhere is that we are all operating as busy ants building the mound.
I am going to use this as a way to figure this maze out...
Maybe I can't after all, I am already wondering who will read this and if I should be careful. Maybe I will compromise and be able to open up later. Start slow. Like George said, "pace yourself here". I am understanding this for sure. There are rooms and rooms full of amazing collections and unloved piles that call to you as you move through the two buildings. I am immediately wanting to organize, clean and sort. I think this entire experience will teach me about what kind of process I employ in the studio and out. I am struck by the desire to catalogue or some how find systems for the stuff. It is the real spirit of this place to look past this part and find the mysteries of what the people prior have done and with what detail. As you are moving piles, you find dolls set up in tea party mode or you find a yellow shoe filled with yellow ribbon and a yellow match box cars. We all seem to have the desire to either find systems, or find patterns or both. The objects and their charm could fill a book, the space and how the artists interact is an entirely different book filled with ideas of private/public, territorial issues, and personal boundaries.
I am at the stage of exploring today and finding some space, place, identity among the many that are here and the objects that have lived here much longer. One thing I love that Steph and George said during my orientation was to think of the future visitors and artists. It is easy and nostalgic to think about who has been here and who is currently here, but to leave treats for the next batch is super interesting for me - like a tag on the wall. I did find an old trunk that is empty...amazing that is is not crammed with stuff. I was surprised when I opened this trunk. I wonder if I can make that my space, my place to leave a message. Being able to open these treasure chests and not feel like you are being a snoop or that it belongs to someone that may be coming back for it is also a new feeling. How often can you really open drawers that do not belong to you?
Besides the empty trunk...I found an emptied space in the room of clothes. This room is filled floor to ceiling with old clothes. There is no reasoning to how they are grouped, or how the room should work. It is claustrophobic, smelly, scary, and somehow beautiful. I can not decide if this is the underdog that needs love. I am so reminded of my years working at Uptown Threads in Ybor City. It was my first identifying job that allowed me to feel like a grown up with tremendous responsibility. In some ways I was able to branch out from my childhood friends. I sorted piles of mildewed vintage clothes, placing them on wire hangers and steaming the years of wrinkles from them. I loved this job and this time...being 17 was carefree and lovely. Those years are laced with the smell of these vintage piles of clothes and shoes. This room at elsewhere brings me back there. I am fighting my urge to indulge in the nostalgia of it all. How can I not???? So maybe another collection trip is in order for me. I will bring something back to my desk and see if it comes to life.
