well, what else, the month is over, notes here few and far between (trying to get an article done for the pixelache2007 publication). and simply trying to keep the logistical complexities under some level of control. but the time between now and the end of March is pretty much locked in regarding the where, of course, the contents of the where are largely indeterminate. a good state of conditions, IMHO, to have the intact vessel for living in hand, and only the action of filling it with human connections.

Was ich suche,
ist immer um mich.
Was ich suche
ist immer in mir.
-- das Buddha Natur

crossing another path with sharedj people -- Martin and Jürgen of the Bremen crew. turns out Jürgen participated in difusion 2002 using iVisit -- he was doing some crazy things with the video image he was sending, and I remember that the students were really intrigued with his mysterious presence...

but the first time in a smoky German bar is too much for me. horrible environment. the Germans are on the verge of passing a law to cut off smoking in public places as have other European states have already passed -- Norway, Ireland, Italy, France. about time. head back to Frieder & Susi's place.



wow, and I made all of $0.69 on Amazon referrals last month from my reading list of books and other media that has crossed my radar lately. I can retire now.



earlier, breakfast at Kuku, and a stop by the Kunsthalle, Frieder gets me in free (as Icelandic/Finnish artist union member) to look at the work of Annamaria and Marzio Sala. interesting, but not compelling. one video installation is absolutely juvenile and would not stand in a bachelors-level class. strange. hanging out in the permanent John Cage sonic installation work Essay.

back at Steffi and Christian's place, comfortable home. another place of temporary home feelings. lovely to meet little Fritz as well.

Ethan sends this nice piece he worked on with Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche up in Halifax. nice meditation.

Call for Workshop Applicants:

Remote Presence: Streaming Life

Presented by John Hopkins as part of the pixelache 2007 Architectures of Participation Festival and in collaboration with Artists' Association MUU

Dates: March 21-23 & 26-31, 2007
Location: MUU gallery & Media Base, L?nnrotinkatu 33, Helsinki, Finland
Hours: 1030 to 1630
Final Event 31 March, 2007

http://www.neoscenes.net/teach/pixel/index.php

SHORT DESCRIPTION:

In the ubiquity of networked media spaces where we distribute our wireless lives, what happens to our creative processes? How may we build a functioning architecture of participation for productive collaboration and interaction between the Self and Others?

This dynamic workshop will bring participants to a new state of awareness about their own creative practice. It will accomplish this through an exploration of human collaboration and connection within the space of networks. It explores conceptual and practical issues around creative engagement, finishing with the hands-on production of a live and online streaming-media network event with global participation.

The workshop is open to anyone from any discipline with an interest in collaboration and creative engagement at both a local and remote scale. There are NO technical background requirements. People with previous experience in streaming media, performance, digital audio and video, VJ work, etc, who wish to push their practice to a new collaborative level are also welcome.

On Saturday, 31 March, the final day of the workshop will be a live & online event. Workshop participants will not only develop digital content for the event, but will also help facilitate all aspects of it including the technical infrastructure, the local ambience, and the remote coordination.

For detailed information visit:

http://www.neoscenes.net/teach/pixel/index.php

A maximum of 15 participants will be chosen from local and international applicants with the idea to bring together a wide spectrum of cross-disciplinary energies.

THE WORKSHOP IS FREE OF CHARGE.

Those interested will need to send:

NAME:

LOCATION:

EMAIL:

Along with your reasons for interest in workshop and a brief background (studies, creative work, and activities) to:

neopixel@pixelache.ac

DEADLINE for Applications 5 March 2007.

hanging at the Imperial War Museum. tastefully restored killing machines along with the parachuting dog in the foyer.

spend the day with Pete, catching up on two years of activities. the most notable, his three-month sojourn in Madagascar. and his filmic contribution to the choreography of Shobana Jeyasingh in two new works -- Faultlines and Exit No Exit. we rendezvous at the Tate Modern, and take a sonic and visual wander around there, then back to his place to look at some of his new work.

finally meet Marc and Ruth of Furtherfield at the home of the HTTP gallery in northeast London. plenty of good gossip about the UK scene, some histories, making connections between events, names, and faces, and so on.

beds empty and so the party slowly ends, folks departing reluctantly from orbit around the Manor and each other. remarkable to participate in such a once-in-a-lifetime event. something bittersweet, not to return to the same time and place, ever, again. and while each Cartesian moment is never repeated, ever, there are some that more charged than others with the enlivened energy of life movement. the last three days were such times. an amazing constellation of people of all ages and sorts. and the constellation assembled by the Light and gravity of this one person. how that is. how that kind of dynamic evolves through a life lived in some completeness and open-heartedness. I make a long sonic redux of the four days...



made a series of group portraits as people departed the temporary manor-home. not catalogic, but it included a fair number of folks. still getting used to the Nikon, and becoming handicapped without bifocals. and cannot rely on the auto-focus device. but the eye enjoys the process.

food? leftovers did not include the main courses and deserts, all of which were delicious, thanks to Tanya (for directing the kitchen for dinner (for 45) on Friday -- a fantastic chicken curry), and Duncan (dinner (for 75!) on Saturday -- venison, mushroom gravy, gratin Dauphinoix, red cabbage, various green things, and truffle torte with raspberry sauce).

this entry will morph in the next days, I'm really behind in getting images and entries online, so...

definitely here now. the house grows to accommodate the arriving crowd as the day wears along. several children, a dog, and a wide variety of humans. I prep chicken for dinner under the direction of Tanya, along with Jane and Jez. a fine curry from all fresh ingredients in the outrageously stocked kitchen (stocked with the food that packed the van to the ceiling). brought into the dining room set for 45 people. tonight it'll be set for 75 folks. making sound recordings, images, and a little video tape. trying to not get too caught up in documentation to simply enjoy. massage is the theme for today -- several masseuses were hired, and so folks are disappearing and wandering back to the first floor in bathrobes looking refreshed.

take a walk with Jeff and Lorna. to the church and graveyard, and around about.

over the door of the church:

Keep thy foot when thou goest to the House of God and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools -- Ecclesiastes 5:1



snow-drops everywhere. rain comes intermittently, darkening the sky, and flushing the air, which already has a marine feel to it, with more clean moisture. finally head back to the house after taking a wander out to the huge Cedars-of-Lebanon in what remains of the extended garden beyond the croquet field in the back yard.

steam is building, literally, in the hot-water heating system, and in the party inertia.

Stonehenge, in a stiff wind. fenced, parking lot closed. the Place looms, well, not looms, but appears between oncoming lorryies and a small wood. small and along on a gentle slope that opens up on closer approach. we can't park, so Jo does a u-turn (aaaaaaa, on the wrong friggin' side of the road, IMHO!!) and parks on an available pull-out. a full 180-degree rainbow appears over a flock of sheep across the way, almost along the sight line of the standing line stone. there is a hooded figure appearing and disappearing around the base of the main circle, beyond the chain-link fence. I have a sacrifice stone to image there. and some panoramas, but the wind and light rain makes any absorption of the Place not so easy. sunset Light appears, horizontal brilliance cutting from the southwest. clearing the air. there it is. there we be.

I run back to the car, kicking and wiping the beige chalk mud off my boots. getting in , the wrong side always. and fighting the urge to grab the stick-shift even though I don't have the wheel in front of me. a few missed turns so a larger circle homing in on Huntsham Court. dark, running the hedgerows. machine-trimmed close and tight. especially with the van that we are driving. high on each side three or four meters. a chill, cold dark. small pullouts for tractors to turn into fields, or leading to stone houses. finally the manor appears. massive stone building with many many windows, stairs, halls, and rooms. three floors, 20-foot ceilings.

we're not the first to arrive, Jo's parents and a couple family friends are there trying to stay warm around the enormous fireplace in the Great Room.



elk and impala heads, jaguars, leopards, bronze owls with glass eyes. swords. closed doors open to reveal more and more incredible rooms. a snookers room, library, sitting room, dining hall set for seventy-five, and on three floors above, the bedrooms and bath, each unique, furnished with a scatter-shot mix of period furniture from stuffed animals to magnificent Tudor oak woodwork and 18th century porcelain bath acoutrements. not to mention the two lions at the front door.

Dagmar sends the link to the Loviisan Sanomat web cam of the center of town. brrrrrr! she's doing a residency there now. will cross paths in Helsinki at Pixelache. great!



still snowing here in London, though it's not sticking. about to head to the wilds of Devon to Huntsham Court. via Stonehenge...

Joanna comes home with a car-load of veggies. the beginnings of food for 80 people for the weekend. will we starve? doubtful. out shopping for bags of raspberries, tea, coffee, and on. the rental van is packed full to the ceiling. barely room for the two of us. and snow comes.

oranges and lemons

Gay go up and gay go down
To Ring the Bells of London Town
"Oranges and Lemons" say the Bells of St. Clements
"Bullseyes and Targets" say the Bells of St. Margaret's
"Brickbats and Tiles" say the Bells of St. Giles
"Halfpence and Farthings" say the Bells of St. Martin's
"Pancakes and Fritters" say the Bells of St. Peter's
"Two Sticks and an Apple" say the Bells of Whitechapel
"Maids in white aprons" say the Bells at St. Katherine's
"Pokers and Tongs" say the Bells of St. John's
"Kettles and Pans" say the Bells of St. Anne's
"Old Father Baldpate" say the slow Bells of Aldgate
"You owe me Ten Shillings" say the Bells of St. Helen's
"When will you Pay me?" say the Bells of Old Bailey
"When I grow Rich" say the Bells of Shoreditch
"Pray when will that be?" say the Bells of Stepney
"I do not know" say the Great Bell of Bow
Gay go up and gay go down
To Ring the Bells of London Town

"Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash recently becomes the sporters (fans) theme song for the Liverpool "Reds" football club -- did this influence the club becoming the third premiereship acquisition by Amurikans today?

jet-lag seems to not be a factor on this trip, after all my experiences from earlier trips. good deal.

now it's the next day (of arrival) after all the delays, and the contorted efforts to sleep in a seated cattle-class configuration. Heathrow immigrations takes a long time, baggage claim, no problem by the time I got there, change some money, get an Oyster card, get on the Piccadilly line headed East. senses begin to wake up to the pleasures of movement, travel: seeing, talking to Others. change at Baron's Court to the District line getting out at Aldgate East, try to find the bus stop. for a moment, not trusting intuition, and get into a conversation with an Irish chap with a small news-stand. asking for the bus-stop, but him only interested in my destination "that's a new'n by me, Senrab (Street)..." it's chilly and damp. nothing new. slightly cooler that California, but not by much at all. the driver nods at the request to drop me at the Marion Richardson school, before the Troxy Bingo Hall on Commercial Road. not far from the Stephen Hawking Special School. no where to stand on those buses when toting a bag -- always in the way of folks getting off and on. aLight and make the short haul to Senrab and neighbor Christiane's house a few doors down, she comes to the door, gets the keys and an envelope for me, and I am aware of two little girls crouched at the top stairs watching my appearance. back down the block -- Maya and Jez, room-mates of JB's are home, though, so I hadn't needed to get the key. They show me in/around and Jez makes some tea and we chat for awhile. great to have a home to enter, when landing in a foreign land. I get the sitting room for a bedroom, comfy. with a view out to a garden, lotsa brick walls, and what looks to be a factory out back, converted to a school or so. beautiful building, I watch it in the night and when dawn comes.

Joe Nasogaluak of Tuktoyaktuk created this amazing piece (2 meters wide!) carved from a Bowhead whale skull in 1992. it's a work about Sedna, an Inuit sea goddess who rules over the Adlivun, the Inuit underworld. I note that we are the same age.

on the road. by the time I post this I'll be in London, safely ensconsed at Joanna's place. only the mediation of hours in hard-shaped public spaces lies ahead. and indeed, the system seems ever so fragile. needing constant invigoration, construction, maintenance. the 767 scheduled to take me from Vancouver to London breaks down. forcing an ancient 747 recently arrived from Toronto to be pressed into service for the long haul. somehow the seat I had selected online got translated from a aisle one to a window. despite there being some 1/3-full three-across rows, I just stayed where I was. too tired to change after the 4-hour mind-numbing delay. (the sound of) public null-spaces. grind the senses to a fine dust, leave them, particulate, ready to be disbursed by a Light breeze.

Canada. last time I was in Canada was for ISEA 1996 in Mon'real where I shared a room with Leslee and a couple other folks, or vaguely recall something like that. at least it was the same hotel. ever since going to the Calgary Stampede back in 1974 on the way to Alaska along the Al-Can Highway, and some summer camping trips with Aunt Mary to the Maritimes and PEI, Canada has always had special status in my psyche. despite the funny way of talking! a niece who is homesteading there in BC now, too. O Canada! eh?