San Junipero blues

My means of transport are gradually shrinking in size. I began the summer with a car, moved here and bought a bike, bike got poorly and now i have a scooter. The next stage is a skateboard and i don’t fancy publicly humiliating myself more than i already do. The bike has a puncture but i’m being awfully lazy in the “fixing it” process. The scooter is pretty nifty though

I’m really struggling to come to any sort of definitive stance on where my work is at. I’m basically just making random collages entwined with paint and illustrations in the hope that something jumps out at me. I’m enjoying making illustrative portraits which i’m trying to go about more loosely with, and attempting to write some sort of narrative to fit alongside, but then i also just want to grab a ton of paint and smear it all over that huge board i’ve had sat in the studio for over a month now, temporarily abandoned because i’m scared i may ruin it

Wishing so much that i could understand the entirety of the content discussed in this Monday’s class. Speaking to the teacher afterward, she explained about how we were exploring the idea of the unconscious thought and how artists responded to it and involved it in their work. She suggested how the things that we do, without thinking, the way we speak our native language, are all unique to us but yet are not really a part of us but more of an addition. Something considered separate from who we actually are. the dream-state

In other news i attempted to walk up one of the mountains outside my window. I got what i thought was quite a way up, but looking at it the next day i realise i wasn’t even halfway. I was determined to reach the part where the snow began, but after zig zagging for over an hour (with no water oops) i decided it best if i returned down to normal ground level. The snow is just sat up there laughing at me

We took our third trip to Lausanne last week, did some more exploring and then went to the Cinema Bellevaux to watch/listen to “NEW METHOD GRAPHIC” by Julien Prévieux and “PORTRAIT OF FILMMAKER IN PSYCHOLOGY OF PERCEPTION” by Dork Zabunyan, the first presentation was in french, but which i have since read up on here. The second was in english, albeit American-English, and focused on the measurement and tracking of eye movements, taking into account the aesthetic created.

We’re taking a trip to a place called Thun tomorrow, which i’ll report on another time

ciao

Soundfiles 2

We went to the city of Lausanne after the workshop, and Lora took us to some shops before they closed. i say “took us” i mean “she was running ahead urging us to hurry with us sweating and crawling along behind”. Huge art shop which we’re making a note of going back to. It’s so strange to see people drinking freely in the streets, everywhere. We watched the sunset from above the town with the Cathédrale de Notre-Dame behind us, an enormous gothic building which we circled twice trying to find an entrance but with no luck. We got the subway back to the main train station and then so came the two hour journey back to Sierre. it isn’t as fun when you can’t see anything out of the window. When we got back at about…. half 10? The others were having a party in the lounge but we were so tired we went to bed and conked out

On Saturday several of us from the Inn took the train to Sion, where i bought a bike and ate the second best burger I’ve ever had, at a place called Holy Cow. The first is one i had only a few weeks ago back in wales. this year is a real burger discovery year

In the evening we were given a musical performance in the living room by another inn-mate and his friend, who both play drums. It was kind of mesmerising to listen to… The drums were passed round throughout, and i found the rhythm quite easily but then keeping up with it was a different matter. needless to say i won’t be becoming a musician any time soon

Later that night we went to a nearby music venue/club/thing (there’s clubs in sierre??) where there were a variety of live acts playing all sorts of music, it was gr8. The place is called The Hacienda, apparently used to be an abattoir, and is hidden within the building below, which i’d taken a photo of a couple of days ago before knowing what it was