You are invited to an exhibition of my work:
-Pastel drawings: Camino De Santiago, Spain
-Photography: video stills from around the world
-Video screenings: 'H2O', 5 min., (2007), 'Searching for Silent Night', 12 min. (2007),'This Drawing Looks Intelligent', 30 min. (1999)
When:
Friday 9 February 2007, opening 17:00 pm
Saturday 10 February 2007, 10:00-17:00 hrs
Where:
Bridge Guard Residence
Pri Colnici 2
Sturovo
Slovakia
Images: Railway tunnel along the tracks between Esztergom(H) and Budapest(H).
I visited the House of Terror Museum in Budapest this week as a mental and emotional preparation for an intended visit to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland later this year. The House of Terror Museum used to be the place where during Nazi and communist times people were interrogated and tortured. The visit helped me to articulate questions that I will use as a reference when I will visit Auschwitz:
How do or can people pick-up life again after experiencing the worst possible atrocities of torture, war and terror? How do you come out of a tunnel of darkness and enter into the light? How can you forgive those who tortured and abused you? How can you ever have faith in people, enjoy a party, enjoy life? I only know stories of people who remained victims and scarred physically, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually for the rest of their lives. How can one recover?
I suppose I have an opportunity to observe how people recover in Slovakia and Hungary. What I do not know is how people were before fascism came here and which aspects of their human behaviour developed because the way they were treated by the regime.
Buddhist and related spiritual philosophies have an answer I think. Forgiveness and understanding of karmic relationships are key to the solution, but for me it is a theory only as I do not know of anyone who has been able to actually put the theory into practice. I would love to meet such a person and make a documentary, if that is not possible, at least explore the idea in video.
In one video in the House of Terror a crying man (victim) poses the question: ...but one is supposed to forgive somehow, no?
29/1 Monday
All is well, bridge still standing.
30/1 Tuesday
All is well, bridge still standing.
31/1 Wednesday
All is well, bridge still standing.
1/2 Thursday
All is well, bridge still standing.
2/2 Friday
All is well, bridge still standing.
3/2 Saturday
All is well, bridge still standing.
4/2 Sunday
All is well, bridge still standing.
Video stills: Janko (8), one of the kids who came to the studio. These images were taken while he watched his own work change using digital media. He started out drawing the traditional house-clouds-sun drawing, just like all the other kids. Then he had the courage to do something radically different and try a random drawing technique. He did with fabulous results. I scanned that into the computer and we then collaboratively altered the image. First I sat at the controls and he directed the creative process, after a while he was able to take control of the mouse himself. I doubt it if he will ever draw two blue clouds and a sun again.
15/1 Monday
All is well, bridge still standing.
This week I will let the images speak for themselves and refrain from talking about anything less important than the creative process of transformation you see below.
16/1 Tuesday
All is well, bridge still standing.
17/1 Wednesday
All is well, bridge still standing.
18/1 Thursday
All is well, bridge still standing.
19/1 Friday
All is well, bridge still standing.
20/1 Saturday
All is well, bridge still standing.
21/1 Sunday
All is well, bridge still standing.
Intitial drawing made by Janko.
The experimental drawing made by Janko.
Digital experimentation.
Digital experimentation.
Digital experimentation.
Digital experimentation.
A detail of his mixed media work.
This weeks images a double dose: details of a communist era apartment block in Sturovo (could be anywhere in Slovakia) and details of a painting by Joli, a marginalised kid from across the road. Who would you like to be your next architect/designer/town planner? Why do adults make the world such a depresssing place? When mayor (architect) Jamie Lehrner took office in Curitiba, Brazil, he replaced many of his bureaucratic staff with creative minds and started each day with a 'think tank' rather than meetings. This city is now an amazing place with excellent public transport, recycling, a glass opera house in a disused quarry, wetlands were returned to the river to flood, creating a green belt for the city dwellers to enjoy and where a food-for-rubbish initiative cleared a lot of junk from the slums... there is a lot more to that city yet no other city in the world has been able to match. 
8/1 Monday
All is well, bridge still standing
-I ended the self-imposed quarantine as my flu was improving and had the kids back into the studio. They bring so much joy and life into the studio, such a contrast to the bleak outside world created by serious adults, or adults that take themselves too serious, and let's not forget the political systems that they created and took very seriously. The housing block pictured here is a stock one, reproduced everywhere, in the same dull colour scheme, including all the white lines created by the gap fillers.
9/1 Tuesday
All is well, bridge still standing
-a day of breakdowns: my juicer broke, my mobile phone lost it's credit (I probably sat on it without the lock applied and probably dialed New Zealand with my bum.), the tap water turned a scary brown, but worse of all, I lost my internet connection again. On the other hand, it was beautiful spring weather and my Ozzy friend Danny and his work mate Greame came over from Budapest.
10/1 Wednesday
All is NOT so well, but bridge still standing
-Danny and Greame woke up early and went for a walk along the river, but did not get far. They stumbled on a man hanging from a tree, dead! When they came back they asked me if there were often dead people hanging around. I assured them that I was not aware of it. Greame was quite shaken by the sight. The police had just arrived and cut the body loose as they passed, not a pretty sight. Later I heard it was a suicide. I am glad I slept in. Later that day I could still sense the bad (spiritual) energy that the event left hanging around. Oh, where are the Maori elders when you need them. They are well versed in clearing negative energy. Tapu lifting ceremonies (Tapu: Maori word meaning something like taboo) are still carried out in New Zealand by the native people in such circumstances. 
12/1 Thursday
All is well, bridge still standing
-the bad energy had cleared overnight. An uneventful day, but that is not necessarily bad at all. There are many days like that here, great days to get work done. I am quite happy with the quiet life to be honest. I really enjoy being here, specially knowing that I won't be stuck here for ever like some locals are, who do not have much to be optimistic about in life at the moment. 
13/1 Friday
All is well, bridge still standing
-went to the local cinema (kino) for the first time. They were screening Casino Royale in its original version with Slovak subtitles. I normally do not go to James Bond movies, but for SK65 (NZ$3,50, almost 2 Euro's) I could not resist. Sk65 is very expensive for the locals (an average hourly rate is SK40 I was told). For me it was cheap as in New Zealand you pay at least $15. With only 20 people the cinema was rather empty for a Friday night. Locals kept on chatting throughout the movie as they were not dependent on the audio to get the plot (not there is much of a plot in 007 movies, but you might as well follow it if you pay to see a movie). Not sure if talking your way through movies is a normal habit here. 
13/1 Saturday
All is well, bridge still standing
-had two (older) visitors from Germany stopping by for a cuppa. I met them on the train coming back from Vienna on 2 January. They were very interesting people. I bought dressing shoes for the annual Sturovo-Esztergom Ball to which I was invited. Tomi kindly lend me a jacket and a tie. I had black pants and a shirt that passed the dress code. Some 130 people attended, dressed in their finest. There was entertainment (ballroom dancing and excellent belly dancing), a tombola--I missed out on the larger than life toy dog (if I had won I would have taken it daily for walks down the mall, true!!), a band called "Acoustic" playing only electronic instruments, and a supper, oh and last but not least alcohol. It would not be an event that I would normally attend, but I had a ball! I danced a lot and had fun and enjoyed watching everyone having a good time for a change. 
14/1 Sunday
All is well, bridge still standing.
-After such a great night of dancing I was reminded again of my disappointment about the lack of traditional music and dance in this town/region. I have decided to do something about it and will try to get the music I need and organise a (folk dance) night here in the Bridge Guard Residence for the locals and an afternoon for the kids across the road. The room is big enough. Time to put some umpf into this sleepy town. I left all my music in storage in New Zealand, but I hope friends in Holland will help out with some copies.
Images: video stills : Kids from the orphanage across the road making art in the artist-in-residence studio.
1/1 New Years (Mon-)Day-Happy New Year
No observations, visiting Hundertwasser's KunstHausWien in Vienna.
-My second visit in as many days. This time to see the exhibition of his art in the gallery that is also designed by him. It is not very often that an artist has the opportunity to exhibit in a space he designed as well. You can't get better treat than that. I love his work, his use of colour and organic shapes. It had a playful, childlike quality to it that reminded me a lot of the work created in the studio I operated for artists with intellectual disabilities in Chicago, USA and Wellington, New Zealand. I can relate to Hundertwasser's philosophy as a fellow artist/architect even though I do not necessarily agree with everything he said. One thing I can say is that I did not want to leave the environment he has created. I felt at ease, at peace, human and at home. Through his work I connected with this man whom I never met, even though he lived 'close by' in New Zealand until he died a few years ago. Art can build strong bridges between people. Time and distance are irrelevant.
2/1 Tuesday
All is well, bridge still standing.
- today I got my still camera fixed and my lap top's performance improved by helpful Mac store staff in Vienna (one great advantage of having a Mac computer). I returned to Sturovo a year older but very happy with my toys in working order again.
3/1 Wednesday
All is well, bridge still standing.
-the first kids from the orphanage that lies opposite my residence came to the studio. After filming a few times among them during various occasions, the kids are getting curious and seem to be asking after me. I love their company and have fun with them. They are spontaneous, fun loving and they reach out. They are not intimidated by the fact that we do not share a common verbal language and try anyway possible to interact with me and my camera. As a result I have decided to invite them all over in groups of 2, and let them make art.
4/1 Thursday
All is well, bridge still standing.
-my idea to do a project with them, that started out as a one-way bridge has now turning into a busy 2-way bridge. The facilitation skills that I developed for working with artists with intellectual disabilities seems to transfer quite nicely to the kids, I never worked with kids before. They made 2 works each, the difference between the first and second one is quite remarkable. I love this process of facilitation. There are stories developing in each kid's work about the content and the process. 
5/1 Friday
All is well, bridge still standing.
- the kids' bridge is temporarily suspended by me, reluctantly. I got the flu, so I voluntarily quarantined myself (lip). Trust me to catch the flu in a mild winter.
I hear that the kids are disappointed and bored... there seem to be no other bridge for them to cross despite the prime location on the banks of the Danube in a building that is decorated with Slovak and European Union flags. My guess is that they get few Slovak, European Union, or Hungarian visitors. Their prime location, with a million dollar view that would give anyone celebrity status, seem to do little for theirs.
Their lives are overshadowed by the socio-cultural-historical significant bridge next door, which gets all the attention, their hopes and aspirations silenced by the daily blast of music from the Hungarian side, that laments the dramatic loss of national territory that soon will no longer exist.
6/1 Saturday
All is well, bridge still standing.
-still sneezing and coughing in quarantine.
7/1 Sunday
All is well, bridge still standing.
-why don't get flu viruses a day of rest? Don't they have a religion or a union? Oh there is no justice in this world.
A series of winter images this week, better do it now as I am not sure if more winter weather can be expected, winter has been unseasonably mild so far, and after all, it's Christmas... If you forfeit Christmas on a sunny beach in New Zealand, the least one can hope for is a bit of white stuff to brighten up the dark winter days of the northern hemisphere. Not that we had a white Christmas, but hey if nature does not oblige, I can... I am creative so I can create what I want (hehe).
25/12 Christmas (Mon-)Day
All is well, bridge still standing.
-Attended midnight mass in St. Stephens Basilica of Budapest, a huge basilica with as many people standing as sitting, but with a choir of about 5 people...
The vocal bridge was too flimsy for the musical Christmas spirit to reach the masses below. I am not a practicing catholic, but going to midnight mass is special to me. Just the thought that for that one hours millions everywhere are in church, not fighting, not abusing, not bullying... For that one moment, remembering the birth of Jesus Christ forges a bridge of calm and peace across many peoples, nations and continents and moves as a wave around the globe through the countries where Christianity is present. That is worth being part of for me, adding one little stone to support that bridge. Pity it is only Christmas once each year.
26/12 Boxing (Tues-)Day
All is well, bridge still standing.
-I always loose track of which day is which in this last week of the year, laughed with friends in New Zealand and Netherlands after discovering that my video camera works as a web cam. This new visual bridge has made the world so tiny, and a lot more fun too.
27/12 Wednesday
All is well, bridge still standing.
-reviewing and logging video footage shot in Vienna last week to see what other footage I may need to shoot when I go back on Saturday. When I review or work with footage shot in other parts of the world, I am instantly drawn back into the 'reality' of that place and time. I experience daily 'culture shocks' when I switch between viewing footage from elsewhere in the world and the reality of Sturovo, Slovakia.
28/12 Thursday
All is well, bridge still standing.
29/12 Friday
All is well, bridge still standing.
-There is a flash neon sign in Sturovo informing citizens about pollution levels and maximum permitted levels. Whatever those level are, it does not look pretty (see image below). The colder weather makes the pollution visible from the Basilica in Esztergom. The sky is an eternal bridge that spans across any border. Man-made pollution unfortunately does not adhere to borders. In this image the pollution is very stagnant and seems to hang around the factory where it is created.
30/12 Saturday
No observation.
-Vienna, meeting total strangers for drinks through the CouchSurfing website that sets out to build bridges between people from different cultures. The fact that I ordered water was no issue for them (Austrians and Germans), unlike in Slovakia or Hungary where locals look at me in total disbelief when I tell them that I prefer not to drink alcohol. Drinking alcohol is very much part of social protocol there, which sadly can become a bit of an issue when you don't drink. I had a wonderful time with the crowd in Vienna.
31/12 My 50th birthday, New Years Eve/Silvester, or plain Sunday
No observation.
-visited Hundertwasser's Kulturhaus, Wien. Hunderwasser is an artist/architect who also lived in New Zealand, where he died a few years ago. I can really relate to his work and philosophy. I will write more about that next week. From the Kulturhaus I went to the city centre and hung out along the 'Silvesterpfad' filled with live music and I waltzed into the new year. At midnight it was time to escape the madness and went to a private party where I danced to fabulous (recorded) Balkan music into the wee hours. Images of that trip will be published next week.
