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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
