Art: Trail #2
On the seen, the heard, and what these two conjure together...
The weekend, it has to be said, lasted an entire week. My plan went out of the window, completely and utterly. I will need to do some fairly serious reorganisation down the line, but for now, there are enough spaces that have not been visited without me worrying too much about an exact order. There were also some absolute WTAF moments as well. I don't get to share those. Don't ask.
What I absolutely was NOT expecting was the level of honesty I've encountered from the artists. That has been an utter surprise, and in at least one case I could have been talking to myself in another universe. It is a foolish individual who assumes that they know anything about anything when thrown into a world that is not theirs. The smart people do well to shut up and start learning.
In the last three days there has been a PHENOMENAL amount of learning.
What has become most apparent to me is the vastly differing means to the same end: how pieces have been made and formed, how exhibitions are created, and the timescales involved. I have experienced the entire spectrum of creation from meticulous planning to seat of the pants panic, with pretty much every version in between. It turns out that no two artists are the same either: who knew?
It's also been a privilege to have artists open themselves to be questioned about process, and the often unexpected vulnerability that goes with it. I've also had a long and very cathartic cry this weekend: I can feel myself literally altering in the heat and with the information others are entrusting me with. I am part visitor but more often a detective. I need answers, and asking the right questions is tough.
This is why tonight I decided to share a poem on Instagram.
The light around me is altering and I am absolutely changing and there is little or nothing to do at this point except lean into the change and let it wash over me. The work will change and shift as a result, an inevitable consequence of exposure to so much stimulating input I am now going to have to regulate myself far more strictly than I considered would be the case.
Watch this space, lads. Things are about to get very funky indeed.
