NOB

I am having a dilemma, going back to the fascination I have at the moment with feathers I have decided I would very much like to make a piece using either quails or pheasants. Previously I had wanted to use either rabbits or hares but society wouldn't let me. However today when opening my emails I am shocked to find an invite to Julia Bardsley & Andrew Poppy's performance and look!

 

HARES! So, I've found a website which displays groups working around the country who enjoy shooting birds, ethically speaking I'm finding the whole thing difficult, I already found using meat in my work difficult but at the same time will always always always follow my own rule that if it fits the piece then one must do it. However the fact that I am unable to obtain these meats from a butchers or the supermarkets unless already skinned I am finding myself stepping into a world where I feel very uncomfortable. I feel like a schizophrenic performance artist trapped between myself who is a practising Buddhist and vegetarian and this other woman who is focused on making the best work she possibly can. So, I have been introduced to www.nobs.org.uk who celebrate groups around the country targeting birds, which is great, all I have to do now is email them, I'm strangely worried about their reply (if I get one). They have training and target advice, what if they want me to go shoot them myself? How do I decide if it's the right thing to do? It would help if someone was actually reading this.

Images of Seaweed

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Às vezes, a vida é como cozinhar em casa, sozinho, para si. Você tem um número reduzido de ingredientes, umas panelas velhas e suas duas mãos... E dali você vai ter que tirar tudo o que pode, todo o sabor; e tirar todo o insosso e tornar o caldo em um saboroso tempero...

Mysterious Performance Relics

I found this piece of work in a tree over looking Pendennis beach and castle; it looked like a performance had taken place due to the way it had been constructed. I like the way the weather and time passing had affected the piece and it also made me consider those who can come across such things when the performer/ artist is unaware.

The Library

I'm finding it very difficult to get hold of the spoken word by some poet's in particular Sylvia Plath. I've even phoned the head office of the British Library to ask how I am able to listen to these reading's. I wanted to listen to them as I am attempting to make my own reading, I find it terrible how inaccessible things are and am not happy with the UCF library who keep asking me to use a machine. I've ordered some material from amazon but feel I need more, I've been using UBU web a lot which is useful but it doesn't make me any less upset with the library. One of the reasons for me being unable to obtain the material is because its not in Cornwall and the other is that they are tapes and the library 'only likes to use Cd's and DVDs now'. If I wish to listen to it I will have to go to central London and book it, that is if I get a reading pass and the material is available at the time. I stupidly thought that one of the most influential poets of all time would be fairly accessible. Apologies but I have spent all day chasing this.

The Exchange

On Friday I travelled to Penzance to meet Rebecca Weeks at the Exchange Gallery, when I got there she introduced me to Andy Whall who I had previously emailed asking if I could meet him. Later I interviewed Rebecca alone in the education room which I've recorded in the hope that I will be able to use the recordings for a sound piece eventually. I decided not to interview her like a journalist and instead carried the conversation through prompting and the odd statement/suggestion, rather than direct questions which I thought would sound unfriendly and potentially make her feel uncomfortable especially as I was after personal information. It was interesting hearing her talk about her work and her relationship with her partner and collaborator, Ian Whitford, who I am hoping to be speaking to soon as well as Andy Whall which I am really looking forward to. Rebecca gave me quite a few good leads which is really useful; I will be following these up this week.

Interviews

Tomorrow I'm heading to Penzance to speak to Rebecca Weeks, the first of my interviews with artists. It's interesting, I decided I wanted to try and work with artists working now in the hope that I will develop a performance based on their current lives as I have done in the past, (looking at Ana Mendieta and Lee Krasner) but I hadn’t realised until recently how strange this is. It seems almost illegal, even though I have told them what I am up to; I'm not sure how this will work but am very excited by the fact that I have voluntarily placed myself in the position of the voyeur and stalker without realising it. As a result I have begun to look at Sophie Calle and the relationship her work has with Oulipo - loosely translated means Workshop of Potential Literature. It is the use of constrained writing or writing under rules. I'm so excited about this project; my main worry is that I won't manage to get a space to perform...

Feathers

After looking at some new found artists works I have found myself becoming fascinated by feathers... On my walk the other day I found the skull of a bird on the side of the path and a little further along the feathers, in two piles. The larger feathers were piled together and the smaller younger looking feathers covered a section of the path. The blood on some of the feathers caused me to consider the death of this little bird, being plucked alive by its predator. The smaller feathers held such vulnerability and the realisation of how helpless the little bird must have been.