Week 11

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.