ARTISTS TALKING

# 1 [26 February 2009]

This is a very short first post to get things going and because I'm exhausted. I was up early this morning (or rather yesterday GMT) after only a couple of hours sleep and after an 8 and a half hour flight and 2hr shuttle bus ride, I got here about 6.30pm.

Arrived after fresh 23cm fresh snow fall and to a temperature of -17 degrees centigrade (!!!)

It is now 10.28pm our time (and 5.28 GMT) and I really need some sleep. I have an early start tomorrow with introductions at 9.30am, but before that I want to go out for a short run (there is a good reason for this- my project involves running- more on that later). I will probably wake up early in any case, or not at all.

So I will leave you with a scenic picture that I took from the shuttle bus window on my way here.

With thanks to the CCW Research Fund at Camberwell College of Art, which has assisted with my travel here.

More soon, 

Bonne Nuit

Véronique

# 2 [28 February 2009]

Was wide awake from 2am  and forced myself to get up at 6.30. Ventured out to a temperature -27degrees! It was still dark so I decided to start my run indoors (the recreation centre here opens at 6am!). Managed to complete a hard 5km on the treadmill- the room was very warm and it made me feel quite dizzy. I followed this with a quick run outdoors to get a feeling of what it would be like to run in the cold. I had wrapped up well but the most difficulty I had was in breathing. The air is very tight here because of the altitude and cold. It will take some getting used to. I was also wearing a wrap over my face, which kept me warm on the one hand but didn’t allow me to breathe very well on the other.
The rest of the day was spent on introductions to the other artists on the programme, to the programme facilitators and to the technicians who will be helping us realise our projects. We also had introductions to library and community services staff, followed by a tour of the campus. This really is a beautiful setting, almost unreal. We really are surrounded by mountains (see picture).
Managed a quick venture down into the town to get some maps to enable me to plan my running routes. Quite daunted by what I’m letting myself in for, but excited by the challenge.
Went back up to campus for a ‘meet and greet’ followed by a pv of artists’ work from one of the self-directed programmes. By 8pm I’d had it and was literally falling asleep (hence no entry last night).
Slept very badly again with additional complication of a pinched nerve on my right shoulder. Was wide awake again by 5.30 and went for a swim to ease the tension.

Today we had our individual entrance and technical interviews. These were to talk about our project goals and to get some feedback from the peer advisors and programme directors and for the technical staff to get a handle on technical needs and issues. The first interview felt very formal and I felt too jet lagged to talk very cohesively; the second (technical) interview was more practical but the difficulties of realising the live aspect of my project were made very apparent. It will certainly pose a challenge and the outcome is not clear. It will involve a lot of experimentation with things that may or may not work. I may also have to limit my route if I can only use local networks.
The good news is that I managed an almost 10km run following the bow river and fenland trails and then back uphill to the campus with spectacular views on the way. The day ended with the first round of artist presentations (mine is tomorrow). After tonight I feel quite intimidated by the prospect. We start tomorrow with a trip to Johnston Canyon.

# 3 [2 March 2009]

A yellow School Bus arrived at the Banff centre yesterday morning to take us to Johnson’s Canyon. After a short drive of about 30mins we arrived and ventured out along the trail walk through the canyon. It was fantastic scenery of woodland, gorges and frozen pools (see pics)- a few of us hung back from the group so we could experience the calm. Well worth the trip apart from the disappointment at the end that the coffee shop was closed- had to go without the hot-chocolate I’d been fantasising about.
Got back to campus around 3-ish and spent the rest of the afternoon preparing for my presentation.
Skipped dinner as had to go over to JPL building, where the presentations were going to be held, 45mins early, to check all was working okay. Mine was quite straightforward as it was all on DVD. Was still very nervous though even though I’ve done this tons of times before.
Unfortunately, turned out I was scheduled last as one of the other artists has not yet arrived. As before, all presentations were very good, which made me feel even more nervous. Eventually, the inevitable came and it was my turn. It wasn’t as bad as I’d thought and I was able to speak freely (rather than read from notes), which was much better, although I think I spoke probably too quickly due to my nerves, but it meant I kept to time. Phew! Glad that’s over. Actually I had some very nice comments from some of the other artists, who said that they’d really enjoyed my talk, so can’t have been that bad. We went on to the campus bar afterwards for a well deserved drink.

# 4 [2 March 2009]

Last night we were also finally given our studio keys, so I’ve been able to check it out today. Unfortunately, I’ve been given one of the smaller office-like studios (see pic), which is a shame as it’ll mean that if I want to try out any projections, I’ll have to use another space elsewhere. I think they think that because I’ll be spending a lot of time outside with my running, that I don’t need a lot of space. Also, it has padded office-like walls covered in coarse grey fabric (!) and some plug points on the middle of the wall-space. This means that I can pin a lot of things to the wall and plug things in, but I can’t use it as a surface to draw/work on. Anyway, I’ve come in this afternoon and made the best of it by moving the table against the window (I have a fantastic view at least) and opening out the space. I’ve also put a few maps and trail info up on the wall to make it look more studio-like. At least I’ve made good use of the map-pins I found here. We’ll see- at least I’m right next to the computer room and on the same floor as the technicians, which is handy.

Did another run this morning and ventured a bit further out to the Vermillion Lakes Road (such a poetic name). This is just beyond where I ran the other day and it was really worth the trip (and the effort). Actually, it’s really flat, which is good. The views are spectacular – almost panoramic of the frozen lakes surrounded by mountains (unfortunately I didn’t have my camera on me, so I have no pics, but I will go back for sure). There was hardly anyone there and barely any cars came down- it was amazing and so peaceful, although a little windy. The run went well- I managed about 17km (about 10.5 miles), although I stopped briefly a few times to find my bearings and later on, to catch my breath- I’m still getting used to the altitude here, so it’ll probably take a while before I can do a long run straight through. I was very pleased with this though, and worth it for the scenery.

Finished the morning with a brunch at Susan Kennard’s house. Susan is the Director of the New Media Institute. It was really generous of her to invite us all into her home. We all brought something to add to the food and/or drink. It was a great thing to do on a Sunday and really welcome, especially after my run- I was starving!
Also met Nina Czegledy, who is one of the artist peer advisors (the others are Kate Rich and Willy Le Maitre).

That’s all for now- I’m off for some food before the canteen closes at 7.30 (I’ll be posting this later on). More soon.

# 5 [4 March 2009]

Have spent the last couple of days trying to get used to the studio- however much I put things on the wall, it still looks too office-like. I managed to find a roll of thin white paper lying around by the lift so I have taken it. It will be very useful to cover the walls with and also if I want to do any drawings of my routes/runs. One of the other artists also found me some left over black-out paper on a roll, so I can black out the room if I need to. Unfortunately, it will only cover half the window space.
Yesterday morning the peer advisors met with the technicians and other staff to review the outcome of the entrance and technical interviews. This meant I couldn’t really talk to anyone about my project. I’m a little concerned about where to start technically with working out the live thing as there were a lot of things being bandied around at the technical interview which I’m not familiar with and I’d really like to make a start with some tests. I spent a frustrating morning trying to get the data from my Garmin GPS device I use to record my runs to transfer to some Mac software I just bought that it’s supposed to recognise the information and draw maps from. That’s something else I’ll have to ask about. GPS is just something I thought I might use as an additional tracking thing so the progress of my run can be seen in real-time.

The sun gets really strong in the afternoon around 3-4pm. By 4pm I’d had enough of being in the studio and I decided I would go for a walk up Tunnel Mountain. It was also to see if it could be feasible territory to run up. No I’m not that hard-core-(!) Tunnel Mountain is not really a mountain, it’s more like a large hill, also, the paths go across it laterally so it’s much more gentle than one thinks. It was worth the trip as it overlooks the whole town and you get panoramic views once you reach the top. I also went at the right time of the day, just into early evening, before the sun went down. Beautiful. The only down side was that because it‘s been quite mild and sunny over the last 2 days, the snow has started to melt and the paths were quite slushy and slippery. Definitely not a good idea to run in those conditions. Got back just in time to go to the campus restaurant for tea. Had hoped to go down town for a cinema screening at 7pm, but I would have had to rush so I gave it a miss. Instead I stayed quite late in the studio cutting lengths of white paper to fit the width of the wall.

# 6 [4 March 2009]

Started today with a swim before breakfast (my right shoulder is still painful, although better). The staff try to make themselves available between 9.30 and 10am each morning in case of any concerns. I had hoped to catch a technical person before 10 to get some advice, but when I got there at 9.45 people were setting up for the group mini- presentations that were starting at 10. These were 3minute slots where we were supposed to give a concentrated introduction to someone’s  work that had informed or inspired our own.
I chose Harun Farocki’s ‘Deep Play’, that he showed at the last Documenta, mainly because of its focus on the construction and deconstruction of a live sporting event (a football match) and where in it you also have the tracking of the ball and game from each player’s point of view. Unfortunately, as it’s a 12 screen installation , it’s not an easy piece to show and I only had a fairly poor quality walk around clip from ‘You-Tube’.  I kept wishing afterwards that I’d shown something else like Florian Slotowa’s ‘Museum Sprints’, which would have been much more straight-forward to show and more fun.
I came to the session in my running kit so that I could go out more or less straight afterwards on another run. This time I went out to Sundance Canyon via the Cave and Basin Trail and the Marsh Loop Trail. Great run- relatively flat through woodland and back through the marshes. The path looked like it is used a lot by cross-country skiers as there are tracks pretty much throughout. The snow is still quite deep in some areas, so it made the going quite slow. I came via the Bow Falls Trail but unfortunately access to the cliff-top and to the falls was closed due to the ice/snow. I had to cut back round to the bridge to find my way back to campus via the Bow River Trail on the other side of the river. Still, I managed just over 10 miles and it’s definitely a feasible run to record. Still struggling with my breathing though and had to stop briefly a few times. I hope I’ll be able to manage a non-stop run soon. I’d like to try some filming next week if I can.(Sorry no pics yet).

Scott, one of the other artists from the group, did an introductory session to ‘Second Life’ this evening. He is developing a project using Second Life and is part of a performance art group in Second Life called Second Front. It was a good introduction, but not one that makes me want to join up any more than I did before- I still prefer real life, myself.
Stayed in the studio late again- this time scanning maps of the areas in which I’m running. Don’t seem to be able to get hold of any maps that are detailed or large enough to work with in the studio.

# 7 [9 March 2009]

Apologies, I’ve got really behind with this. I’ll have to update this in a few posts if I don’t want to leave anything out. (will add pics later). Now we have our studios, things have started to get  busy.
Wednesday started with presentations from the peer advisors, Nina Czegledy, Willy LeMaître and Kate Rich. All very impressive. Nina and Willy’s work is very technology dependent and oriented – Nina works alot collaboratively with scientists and other artists on global digital projects that are very much on the ‘New Media’ circuit; Willy’s concerns are particularly vision and process oriented with modernist tendencies focussed on the question of appearance, so his work relies heavily on the processes of technology and its effects.
Kate’s work is less driven by technology itself and more conceptually oriented. Her work is socially and politically motivated and uses the tools of technology in the world around us to infiltrate social and cultural infrastructures and networks. I found her work the most interesting, particularly her love of sports as a ‘mechanism for survival in the cultural realm’ (her words). It was refreshing after seeing so much work that is heavily dependent on technology, to see her involvement in outside tree-climbing activities- where there is no use of technology at all! I’m with her there.
Following the presentations I made an appointment to see Robert, the technical line producer for the programme and the main point of contact for anything technical. I think he has a lot on his plate, trying to sort out everyone’s needs. Although there are other staff to liaise with for more specialist concerns, Robert seems to be the person who initially coordinates everything and tries to solve things in the first instance. I made an appointment to see him at 4pm, but because of having to answer to everyone’s needs, he didn’t get to me until after 5.
I am still no nearer to solving the live thing for my project and Robert admitted he also need to do more work/research on this. He asked if I could do a search on live Mac/streaming software (although I don’t really know what I’m looking for), and I also mentioned my concerns in relation to getting data from my GPS device so I can print out routes that I am running and track my progress in real time live.
Nina came by beforehand for a chat. Because she arrived late, she had not seen the artist presentations and wanted a sense of what people are doing. She was very encouraging about the live development of my project and was concerned about how it might be shown. I am quite clear that it should be made into some sort of event that is known about and that begins and ends at the centre (the New Media Institute), possibly outside. I am also clear that I will be working on some recorded runs in addition to the live output.

# 8 [9 March 2009]

On Thursday, I organised myself to do another run. I had it in mind to do the ‘Spray River Loop’, a trail that follows the path of a subsidiary river. I wanted to get this run in early as there was an organised trip to see Guy Maddin’s ( a local film maker) film ‘My Winnipeg’ at the University of Calgary later on. I woke up to a flurry of snow, which didn’t seem too bad. I’m quite used to the cold by now and quite well prepared for it. I was actually quite glad to see some fresh snow as I was concerned about running on anything too icy.
When I set off it didn’t seem too bad- I made my way down to the river site and across the bridge to follow the trail. This is a popular one with the cross-country skiers, so quite easy to follow the tracks (or so I thought). Once I was on the trail, it became very tough going. It was snowing steadily and the snow had settled very quickly, so it was much deeper than I thought. I found it very difficult to run through (like running through mud or wet sand). Also, the cold made it much more difficult to control my breathing and very soon I had to keep stopping every few hundred metres to catch my breath. However, I persisted and wanted to see it through. The route itself was fairly straight-forward, following the river upstream, so a little undulating, but nothing too extreme under normal circumstances. I didn’t have to check the map to find my bearings except at the half-way point to loop round.

The half-way point was marked by a small bridge so it wasn’t too difficult to keep on track, but I was really starting to be affected by the cold and to feel quite tired. I started to follow the trail back downstream and all was fine (apart from continued breathlessness) until I had the choice to continue the trail slightly higher up above the river, or to move down alongside. I thought if I moved down to a lower level (and altitude), it would help my breathing. All so far so good until I somehow lost the trail and found myself running in the middle of a golf-course!
I tried to keep calm and continued on, thinking that I would eventually get back on track. The problem was that the snow had covered the marked route. Finally I found an adjoining road and started along it, before realising I was heading off in the wrong direction. For a moment I thought I was lost and was a little alarmed (I was also very tired), but I figured that if I followed the path of the river back I could find my way. Luckily I did. This is definitely the hardest run I have done so far. Very slow. Got back in time for lunch and a long, hot bath.

# 9 [9 March 2009]

The trip to see Guy Maddin’s film on Thursday evening was well worth while. It’s a personal account of the film-maker’s relationship with the place he grew up in (Winnipeg- a City in Eastern Canada, known for extreme cold winters). The event was marked by Guy himself, performing his personal melodramatic narration to the film live, followed by a Q & A. Shot almost entirely in black and white, this film, is an homage to the nostalgia of film itself, and to ‘film noir’, with the live voice-over reminiscent of early film police thrillers or silent movies. The only criticisms are that I thought it was a little long and a little (unnecessarily) repetitive in parts. I would like to see some of this film-maker’s other work. Because of its personal connection to a Canadian city, this film is going to mean more to a Canadian audience. I wonder how it would be seen abroad.

Friday was a studio day. Good to get a bit of consolidated time, but still need to crack the technical thing. Had to go into town to get some materials from the hardware store and graphics shop. I’m surprised that there isn’t better provision for art-materials here. Stopped by the liquor store to stock up on wine and beer. The wine here is very expensive- you can’t get anything for less than $8.00 (£4.00), for some very mediocre Canadian wine.
Arrived a little late for the organised thematic discussion on the question of Audience. This turned out to be a little frustrating and disappointing. I had hoped for a more critical and philosophical discussion around this. Instead, the agenda was much more market-driven and very narrowly considered around the specifics of ‘New Media’. I mentioned that I was concerned that there seemed to be this separation between what was ‘New Media’ and what was other Art, which was not very helpful. Shouldn’t we be talking about our work as art more holistically, rather than by using narrow definitions like New Media? I deliberately do not define myself in this way and feel very uncomfortable about considering myself like this as I see myself as an artist who uses different media to make work. My work is not defined by the media I use, but by the ideas.
Later, I finally managed to get a more in depth chat with Robert about trying to make some headway with the live thing. This was more useful, but he still needs to do a bit more work. I also talked to Kenny, who is a lead programmer and who will help me specifically to figure out some things using mobile networks in the first instance. I’ll have a more in depth meeting with him on Monday.
The evening ended with a screening of the excellent Harun Farocki and Andrei Ujica film ‘Videograms of a Revolution’, showing the Rumanian revolution of December 1989 in Bucharest in a new media-based form of historiography.

# 10 [9 March 2009]

Now it’s got really busy, it’s really hard to keep this blog up, but I’m determined to do so.

Saturday was a really active day. I tried a full-length recorded run wearing the camera kit I have brought with me to get some footage to show for Monday’s studio visits.
I set off quite early as I had arranged to meet Kate at 2pm to try out the climbing gym and I would need time to recover. I decided to do a revised version of the run that included the Vermillion Lakes Road. I’ve figured that I’m much better off trying to run at as low an altitude as possible. Rather than cross through the town first, I followed the Bow River and Fenland trails from the start.- it’s much more straight-forward. Weather was fairly mild, but a little overcast so not great for filming, but as this was a first test I wasn’t too concerned.
I haven’t worn this kit for a little while so I had difficulty in adjusting the belts I wear with the recorders in them. I started recording and managed to make my way to all the way to the start of the Vermilion Lakes Road, before realising that neither of recorders were on any longer. It was a bit annoying after having already run 4km, but since this was a test, I let it go. I switched them back on and continued my route.
I checked halfway to see if the recording was still going. All seemed well and I continued my route back to the start.  I didn’t find running much of a problem and I seemed to be able to manage my breathing a lot better. I managed without too much difficulty to complete my route, only slowing at the end after climbing up the hill back to the Banff Centre.
I was excited about seeing what footage I had and immediately checked to see what I had before doing anything else. I checked the card from the left cam and was pleased to see I had a complete recording. With the right cam I wasn’t so lucky- I’m not sure what happened but there was nothing there.
I had enough time for a hot bath and some soup before going down to meet Kate for the climbing wall intro. It was great fun, though tiring especially after my run. Erika, my room-mate came too. Didn’t really have the right shoes but managed to have a go and get a sense of what to do. I really felt it in my arms the next day, but I’ll definitely go again.

Saturday evening was rewarded with a trip to the Banff Hot Springs. These are located half way up Sulphur Mountain. Unfortunately the actual original springs are no longer active, and it is now a mineralised substitute, but it was great to be out in the cold air in a hot pool under the stars.