Trip The Light Fantastic

Greetings, Kia ora, Hyvää päivää!

2006-08-26T20:45:00.000+12:00

welcome to Trip the Light Fantastic - an impossible expedition, a dreamed voyage, a flight of fantasy. A journey through story that unfolded in the period leading up to and during the residency conference Solar Circuit Aotearoa/NZ [scanz].

in the tradition of every good road trip ‘postcard’ images of iconic females were chosen for the banner to reflect the homelands of the members of Avatar Body Collision - from the left we have Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni [and the map of England],
in the middle is the map of Aotearoa/New Zealand, the journeying would end and begin at Taranaki on the west coast of the north island - all ‘kiwis’ are familiar with Pania and the pakeha woman, who is in every government organization as part of the official coat of arms - and on the right above the map of Finland is the painter Helene Schjerfbeck

this blog is the creative ‘road trip’ of Avatar Body Collision sharing with you intimacy and massive space of driving somewhere with
others in the car. the cinematic slow turning landscape, the video windscreen, the crazy stops in out of the way places and the glimpsed intersections into other peoples realities...
you have arrived at the end go to the bottom of this page to set off

present-tation

2006-07-16T14:26:00.000+12:00

the day of our presentation dawned fine and sunny, and we were honoured with a rare glimpse of taranaki. all seemed good - until we knocked on the door of number 6 and got no reply. it quickly transpired that no-one had seen karla and leena since the exhibition opening at just art the night before ... trying to look on the positive side of things, vicki and i set off for the gallery to finish preparations for our presentation, and sent texts to try to locate our missing collaborators. it was a bit disconcerting that we didn't hear from them during the day, but we were busy with everything else and as they've never let us down before, we were confident that they would show up in time.

once things were set up at the gallery, we managed to squeeze in a spot of op-shopping and vicki scored a stunning copper-coloured frock, the perfect compliment for my own velvet number. then we dashed back to WITT to assist becca wood with her presentation - a choreography performed by herself and a dancer in auckland, using iVisit and playing with the space between the windows. it was really interesting to see a dance-oriented use of iVisit, the way they were playing with the space, and points of commonality with our own work.

but still no word from karla or leena! by 5pm we were getting pretty worried, as we headed back to the gallery laden with everyone's computers for the final set-up. dan supplied us with liquid comforts while the rumorologists administered rescue remedy to vicki - hard to know whether it was the pressure of the tight frock sleeves on her toned muscles, or the anxiety over karla and leena's whereabouts, but she was starting to go white and trembly ...

7pm came and we were up. given the evening's tight schedule we had to say "the show must go on!" and bravely took to the floor. i was chatting to the audience while we waited, desperately hoping for a last minute appearance, when my phone started going and the texts came in thick and fast from karla - they were in auckland!!!! unbelievable!!! over several text messages we learned that, after the exhibition opening on friday night they had gone with some locals to brooklands zoo and scaled the walls, so that karla could get to the otters. not surprisingly, they were caught by security and once their alien status was identified, the police were called in and before they knew it they were being whisked off to the detention centre at auckland airport, for immediate deportation!!!

incredibly, leena still had one last bottle of high quality finnish vodka with her. she cleverly used this to bribe the immigration officials into giving them internet access and so they were both able to be online for the rest of the present-tation. we cast our shadows onto the mountain and discoursed about our study of presence and absence during the residency, before the time-keeper intervened and we were forced from the stage, amid rousing cheers and thunderous applause.

later as the audience left the auditorium, they encountered the installation part of our work. this was a test run as we will use it in a slightly different context during intimacy and in-yer-face next week, and it was encouragingly well-received. finally, we retired with the rest of the scanz artists to punkawalla for an indian banquet.

as for karla and leena, they must be in the air now, winging their way back to their homes. i'm not sure what became of the otter(s). it has been an incredible and memorable two weeks, we have all been changed forever by this experience.

our thanks go to ian and trudy for organising scanz and offering us our first group residency, to the govett brewster for their support in set up, to adam for being a total network dude and to the rest of the scanz artists for the wonderful group collaboration that you all entered into with so much enthusiasm and generosity.

too brief a connection

2006-07-15T16:06:00.000+12:00

the end of SCANZ is fast approaching and now the ADA [Aotearoa Digital Artists] crew are here to join us for the last couple of days of Presentations and discussions. we have been lucky to be party to the work and thoughts of all the artists here and although we arrived with a plan in mind this two weeks has seen our work evolve and expand and gain in layers and richness

after working hard all day to get the set-up happening in the gallery we were looking forward a relaxing evening. starting with the Opening of the latest exhibition at jUStart [the exhibition space run by Justin ]– Justin and Kim are students at WITT, documenters of the SCANZ residency and willing if sometimes unwitting accomplices in the nefarious deeds of the SCANZ participants..

It was a great way to start to wind down [although it seems this is always the time that Karla and Leena are winding up because while Helen and i went back to the Gallery, it seems that after the opening the others hit town [in fact they were not in room 6 at all last night!] – our only concern now is that they make it to the gallery in time for the evenings events...

Verdigris

2006-07-14T01:36:00.000+12:00

On arrival at the Govett Brewster today the verdigris on the door reminded me that i have some more green images to contribute to Raewyn Turner’s project – in exploring and photographing the environment i have in mind the work that others are doing to respond to the strands at SCANZ [environmental response and for us to explore the notion of dis/connection] really on reflection the connections happening through this residency are really quite phenomenal

to illustrate - even today, as we were working in the auditorium the Govett Brewster education programme was about making shadow puppets – for the ability to re-create dancing with the stars [we too are exploring shadows, for the notion of presence the ability to cast a shadow confers]

one of the fabulous tech people who helped us with the set up today was Leonie Smith who has just had a show at the Govett was discussing the work she is doing on flux
or ‘satellite gaps’ as she called them which is the very area Becca Wood [who we are sharing a space with] is exploring - and which is of course what any work that happens live over the internet is permeated with

and then there is the fact that Stella has a beer named after her… and so does Karla! which is really what we needed after scaling Paritutu today…

real and virtual vertigo

2006-07-13T18:22:00.000+12:00

as the residency draws to a close it feels like we're emerging from the shadows into a sunny clearing, ready for work. this morning at the govett brewster the internet functioned perfectly, and the four of us established a local-but-remote working methodology that seems promising for our creative processes. things clicked into place as we stepped back from the proximal precipice ...

to celebrate our morning's achievement, we opted for another kind of vertigo, and scaled paritutu rock; it was a bit of a scramble but i managed it - in a skirt, bionic hip and all! the views from the top were amazing - although taranaki remained hidden behind his shroud of cloud.

the vertigo of proximity

2006-07-13T08:34:00.000+12:00

now that we are finally all together, the work is intense and unexpectedly hard. some things are much easier to communicate over email and chat. moving alongside karla's petite and agile body, i am suddenly overtly conscious of my own lack of grace and co-ordination; my new-zilind twang jars against leena's sexy accent; and i am a complete sloth compared with vicki's ability to function on minimal sleep and go for long walks. the vertigo of proximity throws these physicalities into high relief, and i find myself secretly yearning for the intimacy of distance ...

Dis-traction

2006-07-13T01:08:00.000+12:00

it is interesting how many of the themes and ideas from the range of projects are appearing in other projects, these recurrences are forming patterns that are beginning to reflect the response to the environment that we are all attempting to make [and in some cases the Location – Dis-location we are feeling] some of the patterns to _our_ work seem to be recurring – the struggle with the internet and life [work, health, family] influencing the progress made

an environmental response i enjoyed is under one of the bridges on the hike down to the beach. The grafitti I had photographed and appreciated [thanks to New Plymouth Kids] was rollered over in buff on today’s jaunt – so fresh that we covered our fingers in paint checking. but by the return journey the silver scriber had already started afresh and left a comment for the perpetrators of bland

and talking of fabulous patterns I found this woman in downtown New Plymouth yesterday who makes great slippers [am happily wriggling my toes in the faux leopard skin interior of the ones i bought yesterday]

AND finally, we found some enthusiasts willing to climb taranaki with the C5 guys - will their quest finally meet with success?!

dis-connected

2006-07-11T21:41:00.000+12:00

this morning the four of us went to the govett brewster to test the internet connection ... which didn't work at all. not to be deterred by a mere technical hitch, we spent some time playing with the data projector, then went to lunch and had a good session on our work-in-progress for intimacy and in-yer-face then did a spot of shopping.

in the afternoon we met up with dale copeland who took us to real tart; she hit it off really well with karla and has taken her out to her home and studio at puniho for the night. i'm not sure whether leena has gone with them, or with other scanz artists to the new plymouth observatory. unfortunately it's cloudy tonight - obscuring the full moon ... but was enough of a breeze for ken to test-fly his night kite:

tonight we had new zealand's first ever faces meeting, involving much laughter and wine. nina has promised a full report ... and now it's storming, winding, lightning ...

Grouphug

2006-07-11T21:14:00.000+12:00

Finally were are all here and working together as a group. We are hugging a lot to make up all those years when couldn't but virtually ")kiss" & ")pop".

The working issues are usual regradless of the physical or virtual presence: internet was down at the gallery. Well, ok, it is easier now because it is easier to be present when you have a body, not just an avatar that doesn't get access.

But we have been playing with the projectors and developing an idea but that is still a secret...

kicking up your heels

2006-07-11T08:57:00.000+12:00

today we heard from Lynne and Grant, they were up at Turoa skifield [Lynne reports that it was fun looking after Karla and that they are looking forward to seeing K, Dan and the girls in London] - on Mt Ruapehu looking west they tried to cast their shadows on Taranaki for us.
i think we missed them because it was about that time we were doing Adam’s FLOSS 101 workshop

Caro and i went for a walk in the early evening and were blessed with sighting two Ruru [Morepork] on silent wings, the moon came out and lit sparkles all along the black sand beach, turned the ponga ferns to silhouette and the edge of clouds to paua

later at Matinee we were treated to a sonic event that at first seemed to be messing with internal organs – a noise creating vibrations that distorted bar-room conversation in an interesting way – next came a driftwood symphony, repeated clicks and tocks prompting one punter to comment “it needs a baseline”…

me i watched the reflection of the mirror ball and imagined it was winking back last night’s party – as Caro Bossy in Second Life says “when in doubt just dance”

some reflections

2006-07-11T00:24:00.000+12:00

it's just after midnight, and through the wall in room number six i can hear leena snoring peacefully while karla talks in a loud whisper on her mobile phone to one of her daughters back at home in london. we have spent the day working intensively in our little blacked-out space - we are now more than half way through the residency, and every one is so engrossed in their projects that people seem to have barely registered karla and leena's belated arrival.

the moon is almost full and we are all hoping for wind tomorrow, so that ken can launch his kite. maria and norie are busy collecting breaths for their exhibition at the govett brewster, wolfgang is off taking a 24-hour web cam view of taranaki, and nina is gathering one-word descriptions of the aurora.

in fact everyone is operating in their own little world, and we have had to resort to strong signage in order to avoid further accidents and injuries. even so, it's hard to avoid the occasional bodily collision. Fortunately no-one has perished yet, but were that to happen, we are happily handy to the cemetary.

SUNday

2006-07-10T10:28:00.000+12:00

again the SCANZ team disappeared off to the four corners of the compass, the Govett Brewster gallery, the beach, the mountain and a farm - while we celebrated the arrival of the sun, as well as Karla and Leena, with a picnic at the accommodation [it was wonderful to be all around the same table and really there’s nothing better than a quiet Monteith’s Pilsner in the sun]

Stretching the legs and checking out the neighbourhood revealed glimpses of Taranaki and while down at the beach we finally found out where Leena had been staying all this time – although it’s a lot better knowing they are safely tucked up in number 6!

after the superb indian feast [thanks to Sara and a dedicated crew of helpers] there was the opportunity for SCANZ and non-SCANZ people to ‘swaray’ with the assembled crew here

after joining and orientating at the swaray stage participants could check in the luxury Caroshotel in preparation for the attending the Conference of Rumorology [and in a set-up closely resembling life here at WITT there was an adjoining paddock full of sheep!]

things started off well and all the stages were busy with visitors then some strange bug hit the network! – the staff and guests were left in a state of confusion when the manager got locked out of her hotel, a particularly wet and dispersed conjecture hit the conference and the delegates all left [although its rumoured they will return next week] the GE specialist in the pink lab coat was last seen forlornly counting sheep - there was a whisper she was endeavouring to herd them in an effort to get into Alex’s SCANZ film project

Sore muscels

2006-07-10T10:07:00.000+12:00

O boy, biking 40 km was way too much all of a sudden for me. I am totally exhausted. I have arrived to residency many hours ago but I have been resting. Helen kindly brought me orange juice and rubbed my calves but I can't stand up yet. I will write more later on, now I must sleep.

out and about

2006-07-09T12:32:00.000+12:00

yesterday while half the SCANZ people were out in the wilds of taranaki counting sheep we held another UpStage workshop. This time we limited the numbers to just the Out-of-Sync team Norie and Maria. They learned about the online environment and we set about creating a stage for them to hold the Conference of Rumourology as part of the ADA – Swaray [tonight Sunday at 9pm NZ time]

we were so busy we didn’t notice the bomb scare when this bag was discovered in the Carpark outside the accommodation block – closer investigation revealed it was from some well meaning but shy person dropping off a range of Pharmaceuticals to assist in getting Trudy out of her room and back into the Swing of SCANZ things [there have been so many disappearances and mystery illnesses this last week - is this a mutant computer virus sweeping through the group? people are dropping like flies! where is everybody i mean has any one seen Andrea Polli the last few days?]

After all that excitement it was time to head down to the Govett Brewster and check out the performance part of the 'What Colour does Sound make' exhibition. Pity Karla and Leena had to miss the eerie sound of the Nguru played by Richard Nunns [by just looking at her bicycle you can tell Len would have loved the Japanese ‘Rock-n-Roll’ as well….]

helen and i are extremely excited Karla and Leena are going to be back with us again – and luckily with Gillian Fuller on the job as ‘Quarter Mistress’ we definitely have enough sugar to cope with Len’s sweet tooth!

Biking to New Plymouth

2006-07-09T03:06:00.000+12:00

I have been in one the greatest party in my life! Amazing group of absolutely crazy people arrived yesterday and we have been dancing and singing and laughing and eating and dancing and singing...

But now it is time to go back to the 'camp scanz'. My hostesses asked me to take a design bike to New Plymouth to their friend who will paint it 'pimp my ride' style. It is only about 40 kilometres (so they say) so I will be cycling back to Helen and Vicki, and hopefully also Karla has returned by the time I get there. Shouldn't take to long unless the road is still flooding.

See you soon!

devising despite dispersion

2006-07-08T13:12:00.000+12:00

while it's frustrating to be so close to each other yet still not working physically together, we Colliders aren't letting a few little mishaps stem our creative flow. after 5 years of working remotely, our distributed methodologies are so honed that it makes little difference whether karla and leena are in london and helsinki, or raetihi and flooded south taranaki.

at least in these circumstances we're not having to deal with different time zones (although both k and len have suffered badly from jetlag and other substances messing with their notions of time) - this in itself has had a massive impact on our working methods. time that would normally be spent juggling schedules and time zones is now able to be devoted to the work. removing time conversion from the equation has definitely simplified things!

and the challenge of the physical journey and attendant adventures is proving to be hugely stimulating for all four of us. synergies, coincidences and convergent tangents are binding us together from all directions, achieving an intense cohesive creative force that i have not experienced in our 5 years of much great geographical dispersion. we're sparking ideas off each other and it feels really good to be in this heightened mode of productivity again after a relatively quiet year while all four of us were busy with other projects. we've been offered a special energy here in taranaki.

flashing lights

2006-07-08T01:26:00.000+12:00

Well SCANZ people certainly are causing their fair share of controversy in the Taranaki region - First there was the search for the missing Avatar Body Collision members at Waitomo caves and the road block at Awakino... maybe that set the tone?

Since then there has been ‘the incident in the bar’, the dramatic episode of visual and sonic artists getting ordered off Port of Taranaki land [for apparently trying to engage with a group of seals] the same artists were later chased out of a disused fishery building downtown

there was some CCTV of furtive goings on in the local supermarket but the MOST remarkable event was pulled off by one of the project team

in a spectacle not to be topped, our very own Ian called forth not one but two fire appliances! this was not an act of frivolous wrong doing, no, our master of misdemeanour was merely trying to get the smile back on the dial of the lovely but poorly Trudy

will the accounts of hullabaloo cease here? probably not - for only this evening how many times did the bathers at the Pure One get scolded for talking too loudly?

shadowing events

2006-07-07T16:31:00.000+12:00

this was an impromptu performance where Caro recreated the twin shadow towers by taking a cell phone image of Wolfgang’s projection – it was definitely a sense of place shifting and time distorting as we worked into the night…

woke up this morning thinking about where i am and looking at my feet on the carpet, so far away from the place i usually stand and yet i am feeling strongly here and focused - this of course set me wondering about len but she seems to know how to always land on her feet…]

here is a picture of karla’s feet that lynne sent me [apparently k said it was a picture of the inside of her head – at least it looks beautiful] looking forward to when we can all point our toes at each other

as you can see helen and my feet very much off the ground as we sorted out details for the presentation at the Govett Brewster next weekend. We were assisted in our technical quest by the very helpful Bryan and the space looks fantastic!

there is such a sense of the community that are supporting the group of SCANZ artists in their endeavours here – in the shifting clouds and sun even the sky seemed to be indicating a revelation

Ukelele Duet

2006-07-07T10:53:00.000+12:00

Woke up to find some things were real, some not.
I love it here with Grant & Lynne. Perhaps I'll do my part of the residency from taranaki....

out of sync

2006-07-07T10:41:00.000+12:00

this post is a bit out of sync - i thought lynne was going to post it but obviously she's being kept pretty busy entertaining karla. anyway, it's a photo she sent back on wednesday when she got to the hospital to collect karla.

by all accounts she's doing much better than this now. in fact vicki is getting email from raetihi right now - looks like they might be having a bit of a party!

friday in new plymouth has dawned sunny and still - hard to believe that there is flooding chaos just down the road. vi and i have to check out our technical requirements at the govett brewster this morning, in preparation for our performance on saturday 15th. we have decided to go ahead on the assumption that karla and leena will make it here for the performance - after all, they are so close! and if they can survive everything this far it seems not much of an effort at all to get back to new plymouth.

Wolfgang Dream

2006-07-07T10:17:00.000+12:00

The Wolfgang Dream:
It was 1971, New York, and the towers were still under construction. Me and Wolfgang were on the wharves in New Jersey, looking across Hudson at the golden columns. He said we were the wharf rats, the indigenous survivors that would watch the towers fall. I kept coughing; Manhattan seemed very far away and he laughed: 'No distance at all' . Remembered then what Artaud had said about the plague making "...its presence known in those places, to have a liking for all those physical localities where human will-power, consciousness and thought are at hand.." In the background someone was singing 'Donna Donna', and Grant was playing the ukelele, fast, tenderly, and I rose up to join him.

Bad Weather

2006-07-07T04:20:00.000+12:00

I got caught in the middle of storm while trying to hitchhike back to New Plymouth. The road collapsed and I fell in the ocean. I managed to swim to a beach house and the group of ladies who live there insisted that I stay there and wait until the weather gets better. Actually, this is not any old beach house but pretty fancy villa. I've been fed and got clean underwear too, which feels really great after being travelling for days without any extra clothes. My hostesses are organizing a party today and are expecting some great musicians and other artists that will come if the weather allows. BBQ is hot already.

Don't worry Vicki and Helen, I will get there, and I am sure Karla is on her feet already.

swimming or drowning?

2006-07-07T00:45:00.000+12:00

during her presentation tonight, janine referred to the “intimacy of proximity & the vertigo of distance”; in the latest issue of the open page, i write about devising with distance while jill writes about practising proximity. i feel these two apparently opposing concepts – proximity and distance – intensely right now, pulling us together yet forcing us apart. this current work-in-progress is such a delicate balance of proximal distance, distant proximity. another exercise in remote intimacy perhaps …

lunch – a performance in itself…

2006-07-07T00:19:00.000+12:00

but in the afternoon we began to fulfil the brief of our Digital Strategy application and ran our first funded UpStage workshop!

Here is Caro who got in ahead of the crowds clamouring to join and worked toward the creation of her Virtual Hotel, by end of the afternoon she had some rooms operating and even some unruly staff - by the end of the day she had created an environment so real it was like being there!

Best food event of the day was finding this group who in the guise of funding a group from the local Kura Kaupapa to Rarotonga have set about creating the BEST seafood fritter [ingredients include Paua, Crabmeat and Fish – delicious]

Karla and Leena well we know they are ok [at least we know Len is still breathing but she is… well there was this guy who heard some funny sounds in the bushes and tried to discover her at least through her sonification]

and again in the evening the eclectic mix of presentations exposing what a diverse and interesting group have been assembled for this residency

with an earpiercing whistle umatic started the evening with their journey into video and sound [I think Leena’s travels so far will make an interesting path through sound transit [once a few kiwis upload some sounds!!!]

xiu li and jim lead us through collaging paper to performance to video and sound [one page of images exploring the culture of self for xiu li through to jim’s solar powered machine feeding back collaged language]

Trudy who is tirelessly working to make life here at WITT as productive and rich as she can - has always been working in connecting artists – her interface with this group of artists has been unfailing. Works i want to check out further are sonicflux and the educational tool built around distributive justice [OR you could also always just go make babies in Embryo]

Janine showed us systems of observation, her work with remote perspectives and invited us to try and attain the meeting between the ‘intimacy of proximity and the vertigo of distance’. Ian introduced us to hybrid cultures [lei, bastard children and the bite of consciousness [he also ADMITTED to stickering a town during an exhibition – could he be the one pasting new Plymouth with the heart len stickers?????]

Finally there was Wolfgang… we forgave him for sleeping through our presentation on Tuesday night and honoured him by staying awake through the THIRTY SEVEN minutes [accurately timed by hen] of his

actually i was transfixed by the journey through BBS, monkeying around with installation and video and the first media art repository in command line – he works with our sense of _being_ here

And strangely now we are watching the 24 hour loop from his office window where in a short time the twin towers will play out our collective absorption of mass media [in ‘real’ time video] we are left 'looking at the work until the work looks back at us'

(not) Forgotten Toast

2006-07-06T10:34:00.000+12:00

thursday already, and we wake up in new plymouth to steady rain and a cup crisis in the workroom so i dealt with the practicalities first before getting online - but what a relief to come online and get such good news from karla and leena! perhaps things are going to start looking up for our first ever physical residency : )

just to remind ourselves that things did start off on the right track, here's a pic puk sent, from back in auckland when we first met (before things started to spiral out of control). see how excited we were to meet, filled with happy anticipation for the creative collaboration ahead of us. little did we know ...

still, all is not lost. the work is progressing extremely well despite our lack of proximity - or perhaps, indeed, because of it?

Tracking myself

2006-07-06T06:57:00.000+12:00

I got bit worried when hen&vicki suspected that I have gone as far as south island. And it occurred me that I have crossed "a big water", twice even, first by tiny plane and then I was on some yacht. To get an Idea where I am I loaded my GPS tracker to show me the route where I have been during my stay in NZ. So here is the map that I got, I Think it is some sort of Disney tracker with all these symbols but indeed I have been in south island. I think that is where I did my chanting ritual to cure Karla. Now I am close to New Plymouth but I don't know where exactly because the blue star is on top of the name of this place. But it is a picturesque small town that has lots of weird people and funny bars with good Vodka.

where there's smoke

2006-07-06T00:49:00.000+12:00

so the day started off so strangely – it was hard to concentrate on what we were doing downstairs [what with worrying about Karla and Leena… and whether there would be enough vegetarian sandwiches at lunch] luckily after that some of us went to the Govett Brewster to check out the Len Lye archive

there were some rumourologists there [I got a shot of them observing a group of SCANZ artists – and they said they detected a rumour in the drainpipe that Leena and Karla had been to the gallery on Monday!!!

After that excitement we had to have a drink! … in an unnamed bar in town we found this chick who was convinced it was Leena she had shared a fag with and THEN said she had even taken her for a ride on her bike! And we have started seeing these around town….

Luckily not long after that we got a text from Lynne saying she had picked up Karla so finally Helen and I could relax and think about the presentations going on back at SCANZ

Some awesome introductions into what others are doing and it is great to make connections and see opportunities for collaborations like according to Caro how UpStage can be a solution to 'virtual hotel real estate' [workshop at 2pm Thursday!] this picture from Nina's presentation is one that resonated with early ABC work, and Karla would have loved seeing a version of the worldx students thoughts in Ken’s emotional weather meter
Hearing all the thoughts and projects of the group at SCANZ and the turbulence of our first residency together are like an extreme weather event, a whirlwind of impressions and ideas

Everything is fine

2006-07-05T22:02:00.000+12:00

Poor Karla got some sort of belly-bug and had to be rushed to doctor. It was all bit nerve wrecking because she was clearly in pain and we had to perform right then. She went really pale and fell on the floor at one point whispering show must go on.

After that chaos was over I went to a small pub in the village we were at the moment (forgot its name) to have a drink and met this Maori woman Ngaio who told me to go up in the mountain and calm down the gods so that they would cure Karla. I figure why not, (when in Rome..) So I have been up there somewhere dancing around a rock and trying to chant some Finnish spells because Ngaio didn't want to reveal me any of the Maori ones.

Heading back to New Plymouth now. Helen and Vicki have sent me many text messages with a bit irritated tone. I have to find Karla and then we hitch back there I suppose.

Altered States

2006-07-05T20:32:00.000+12:00

I'm lucky, I like hospitals, having spent a considerable amount of my late teens & uni years doing part time employment in research hospitals in my home town. I understand the rythmns and rituals and am prepared for minor personal indignities, the handing over of my body to professionals. I easily tolerate the paucity of hospital food. Above all, the elemental generosity of the people who work in health care can move one to tears. So, I am a good candidate for institutionalisation.

I didn't eat possum pie and I didn't have my stomach pumped. But I did eat a brownie from the Acid Man (wired guy who picked me and Len up when we were hitching, and deposited us at Inglewood internet cafe). I reckon that little chocolate morsel was heavily imbedded with seeds from Datura Stromonium. Once Datura has entered your blood stream, it can remain in your system up to 3 months. The other interesting thing about a Datura hallucinogenic episode is that the person having it has absolutlely no cognition that they are hallucinating.

Okay, so at 52 I am still failing to abide by the most elementary precautions of travel: a) don't take rides from guys with eyeballs on sticks; b) don't eat homecooked deserts from said guys. I have only myself to blame.
But, despite the extreme nausea, mild public embarrassent (imagine: rolling around on floor of internet cafe, drooling and moaning), this has been one helluva of an interesting experience. Come to New Zealand! Stay in our health care facilities! Examine the inside of your head!

I am now safely ensconced in the care of Lynne, and have a new bed awaiting me. I think this is the way to see a country: become a patient and test out the loving kindness of its people. NZ is scoring pretty high right now.

P.S. I am NOT pissed off with Len. She had me in stitches as I puked, while managing hands-on typing to UpStage, ordering Cafe Manager around, calling the medics, holding my feet back from the ensuing pile of bile, and I think she might even have lit up a fag at some point. In retrospect I am glad she didn't come with me to the hospital - she is a huge distraction and besides, she owes it to us to continue her dionysian research.

state of confusion

2006-07-05T11:09:00.000+12:00

this morning we are getting conflicting reports: leena has texted saying "everything's fine" - but karla has texted from wanganui hospital, a very strange message that i can't completely understand but i get the feeling that she is pretty angry and upset about something.

vi is trying to get hold of her friend lyne, who is at raetehi only one hour away from wanganui - maybe she can find out just what's going on.

Presence and absence

2006-07-04T22:08:00.000+12:00

this evening it was our turn to present our project. as karla and leena had managed to get themselves stuck in inglewood, vicki & i had to go it alone. fortunately they made it to an internet cafe and made an online appearance. karla was suffering from food poisoning (having sampled the local possum pie) and leena was clearly still getting over the jetlag ...

otherwise, apart from the internet behaving very badly at the venue, things went pretty well, all things considered! vicki and i are about to drive down to inglewood to rescue karla and leena (again!) ...

presently

2006-07-04T20:07:00.000+12:00

Presence and abscence for a distributed performer, is the grit under the wheels.

The last time I sat next to Len and performed with you all at a distance, we were in Bremen. Now you are are just up the road, but really could be on another continent.

What affect has distance? How much distance counts as 'far' or 'near' in cyberformance. In Bremen, Len and I performed onstage together for the first time, while Hen was in Europe & Vi in NZ. I went backstage at one point, came online to join the dispersed performers on webcam but...
Oh, Len gesticulating wildly. Acid indigestion? No, apparently we are due at the swaray.

road trip to taranaki

2006-07-04T18:31:00.000+12:00

this afternoon the sun came and drew everyone outside one crew decided to go for a walk on the mountain [we tried to get Karla and Leena to come, but K was worried about what the cold and wind would do to her skin and Len was more interested in meeting the shag on the shoreline]

there was a data discourse in the car on the way up - how would data display the beauty of the rainbow that greeted us in the car park? What sound would all those colours make? Here are some pictures especially beautiful was the Ngatoro walk we did – a hobbit trail through snow and greenery [a feat of step climbing for bionic hen]

the peak briefly appeared for us as we climbed the snow laden track then back in the trees we stopped for awhile to listen to the percussive music of water dripping off the moss

Len sent a sms saying they had decided to come up the mountain after all [they tried hitching but went to Inglewood instead of turning off] – our only hope is that they make it back for the presentation tonight!

perchance to dream...

2006-07-04T12:03:00.000+12:00

last night after a few glasses of champagne and all the awesome presentations, the last thing I expected to be doing was running through the streets of New Plymouth to find the wayward K and Len

I did suspect that we would lose Len in the evenings after spotting her shag down at the beach but K… well you could expect more decorum from her but as you’ll realise she was drawn in by Len’s obvious charisma

Caro just reminded me we have got some work out of them this morning [that's Caro behind Leena's flying fingers] and have pinned them down to an appearance for the rest of participants SCANZ this evening when we do our presentation of UpStage - luckily some of the other SCANZ people are suffering from jetlag too and understand their inability to get out of bed!

Busted!

2006-07-04T09:19:00.000+12:00

Neither me, nor Karla could sleep last night. Around 2AM Karla was wondering sleepless in the corridors trying to cure her headache and spotted me outside restless, having a smoke. We decided that we might as well go to paint the town and have some fun, get to know the locals. And it was so great! We had few drinks and met some really wonderful people and I wish it could have lasted all night. But Vicki woke up too and got worried when she didn't see us. We saw her walking towards and tried to hide behind the rocks but she is too sharp to be bluffed with a simple act like that. Especially when we all were giggling hysterically behind the rocks. I guess she knew immediately that we were up something suspicious because she had taken her camera with her.

A habit of conversation

2006-07-04T06:08:00.000+12:00

I feel so decadent and European only because I am almost the only one who smokes in here. Hmmm, maybe should have taken my beret instead of the beanie even though my "elegance" will never be quite Paris and chic. Thank god there is Gillian who smokes too. I enjoy company while smoking. I always have best conversations and ideas when I withdraw to have a cigarette with those whew others that share the same habit (I refuse to call it an addiction even if that was the case).

mountains of information to process

2006-07-03T23:20:00.000+12:00

this is taranaki revealed to us this morning as we drove to the Powhiri

such an evocative peak to local iwi - it seems so amazing to me to see the mountain surrounded by low lands [from looking usually at the string of peaks that are the southern alps] and is informing many of the projects that are here this week

i am interested in being able to circumnavigate this peak [would be great to go up with karla and ski off it as well!] and also in the faded postcard memories i have visually of Taranaki

i want to explore more the presence and absence in landscapes, of the inhabitants of these spaces [the tourist camera missing the story behind the images collected on a road trip]

the mountain unmoving in a backdrop of change and development [socially, environmentally and visually…

this other photo was taken at the supermarket buying champagne to celebrate the success of our application to the Digital Strategy – UpStage phase2 is go!!!

SCANZ Begins!

2006-07-03T22:53:00.000+12:00

SCANZ began this morning with a powhiri at the Waitara Marae; the local tangata whenua, of Te Ati Awa iwi, formally welcomed the SCANZ artists onto their marae and gave us their blessing to spend time working in the Taranaki region.

We had to meet at the buses at 8.30am but karla was still doing her ablutions and nobody was quite sure where leena was; so i threw the keys to the valiant at karla, and vicki and i jumped into the transport. Off we went to the marae ... the powhiri was great, one of the best i've experienced. We manuhiri managed a pretty decent rendition of "Te Ariki", and many of the artists spoke about their projects. The elders of the marae were interested in our projects and also spoke about the history and whakapapa of the marae, and how Maori lifestyle is based on natural universal law. There was a lovely morning tea, with traditional kiwi asparagus rolls, egg sandwiches and scones with jam and cream. The international artists were well impressed!

One thing that particularly resonated for me was when the kaumatua spoke about their tipuna (ancestors) and how they regard the carved pou which represent them as being alive; their tipuna are there with them in the meeting house, they speak to them, they sense their presence all the time. We are also working with presence and absence; separated by distance or time, we can still be present. Can you find them in this picture?

A few people saw karla and leena amongst the crowd at the end of the powhiri, but when we got back to base camp the valiant was exactly where we'd left it - i was relieved, to be honest. Karla relinquished the keys without any explanation.

Then the most exciting thing happened - we heard about a big grant we'd been waiting to hear about - WE GOT IT!!! Such great news - we rushed to buy champagne and celebrate. Unfortunately karla and leena, still suffering the effects of jetlag, faded quickly after a couple of celebratory glasses. Vi & i took the rest to dinner and celebrated with the rest of the artists.

Tomorrow night we have to give our introductory presentation - everyone is positively dying to meet k & len, so we are going to make sure they don't miss this event!

Talking slow, moving fast

2006-07-03T10:26:00.000+12:00

Overslept this a.m. Can't remember going to bed. Overlapping conversations. Vicki and I exchange hand signals. Hen has hiccups so we have to hit her. Stories are thrown out, truncated, masticated, flung on the walls. I find the Manuka honey. Question: What happens to our performances now that we are all here and no longer distributed? Because we keep referring to those bits of us formed in cyberspace as significant others.

jet lag does funny things to your internal clock

2006-07-03T07:11:00.000+12:00

the rooms at WITT are great - pity about the others suffering from jetlag
i think they must have been up all night!

i kept waking up and seeing karla's feet

What is for breakfast?

2006-07-03T06:38:00.000+12:00

Excluding the tofu sausage I ate at the vegetarian restaurant Vicki and Helen so highly recommended the food has been really great.

But homeland hunts in mysterious ways. For some reason I took a picture of the last snack I had in Finland before this journey, and the photo keeps popping up on my laptop whenever I browse through my folders: Karelian pies made by my mother. Delicious but I don't really miss those yet. I really want to have some decent rye bread though, and also salmiac even though I don’t normally eat that very often. I meant to bring soma samples to everybody at scanz but got too busy finishing my work in Helsinki and getting everything ready for the trip. Next time then. I promise.

I wonder what Kakapo tastes like?

Didn't mean to frighten you.

2006-07-03T05:22:00.000+12:00

Caro,
sorry,
I didn't see you until it was too late.
Karla

2006-07-03T01:43:00.000+12:00

Dear Reader,
you must not think me a WUZ.
I have not acclimatised, yet, to the chill of a New Zealand winter. Despite the numerous hotties and my stash of handknitted scarves, my bones still beckon to the warm sands of the mediterranean (where they might reasonably hope to be lazing at this time of the year). I'm waiting for that transition, the passage through the veiled door into blue winter, a certain cooling of the blood...
A lot of Scanzers are snivelling, teetering on the curve of an atishoo! I do not intend to be one of the snivellers, but yes, struggling a wee bit here for the moment: first the other worldly jetlag, swiftly followed by car sickness (Valient indeed!), and then the caves, god und himmel, the caves almost did me in! What on earth was I thinking?
OK, I didn't want to put a damper on Hen's immense enthusiasm, and it seemed like a plausible idea at the time. "Waitomo Caves! You'll love them. Follow me!" I'm a registered claustrophobe - I've got the identity bracelet and everything, so I can only put this misadventure down to a lemming-like camaraderie. Imagine, just imagine abseilling 100 metres down through sheer rock, then wriggling on your belly for what seems like eons, in pitch darkness, through subterranean crevices and cracks, and perhaps you can imagine my terror. Oh yes, and ALONE. We got disconnected as quickly on terra almost firma as we do in cyberspace. I screamed all the way back in the police car. Don't think I will sleep tonight either - although the paua shell ashtrays from that gift shop did go some way to ease my anguish.
Now, at last, we are safe and snug in New Plymouth and I for one - having been raised in the spirit of dormitories, cold showers, and post war restrictions, find the accommodations pleasingly familiar. I think the time curfew may be a wind up. It's time to practice my song for the Powhiri tomorrow. Karla

Poetic moment

2006-07-03T01:16:00.000+12:00

I just love the spectacularly beautiful nature in this country. Here we are whole ABC sucking inspiration out of the greenness of the surroundings. (Thanks Trudy of taking the picture). I was so breath taken by it (or maybe it was the schnapps I had after dinner) that I was possessed to recite some Shakespeare using my modest memory.

A lover may bestride the gossamers
That idles in the wanton summer air,
And yet not fall; so light is vanity.

Sorry!

late but all in one piece

2006-07-03T00:03:00.000+12:00

so Sunday starts off ok – no one got bitten by the otter, I think we took all our stuff from caroline’s [surprisingly big boot the valiant… luckily I don’t have to snap my skis in half to fit them in like hen threatened]

we were on the road, in the sunshine karla’s Cuban ska on the stereo – finally just driving and talking – the intimate space of a car wide open landscape slowly changing just the four of us within arms reach [so much to share and catch up on…]

it was our visit to waitomo where things got a bit complicated, first it was difficult to drag the girls out of the souvenir shop [so much kiwiana so little time!] once in the caves, well it is so breathtakingly beautiful, on reflection it was a little careless… we lost them
we searched for hours, eventually the torch batteries ran out and we had to get the police involved, there was nothing else for it Helen and i drove on – determined to make the SCANZ check-in, nibbles and dinner – we couldn’t let Trudy down AGAIN!

At awakino there was a road block – the cops were there with karla and leena [they were found alive and well] we did the hand over and carried on to New Plymouth

Leena insisted on being dropped off in town to check out the night life [on a Sunday??] and Karla was snoring in the back seat so Helen and i had to represent the team and front up to the SCANZ participants [hopefully we can all get out of bed in time for the Powhiri tomorrow…]

MIA instead of MIC

2006-07-01T21:05:00.000+12:00

Well we are not doing to well at attending the early SCANZ events so far [tonight was the performance night at MIC and we were looking forward to this to start meeting the other SCANZ participants however….

as a special birthday treat for Karla we all went for a ferry trip over to Rangitoto [karla loves ferries and has been enjoying the trip from downtown over to Caroline's in Devonport]

we have also been updating Len and K on the goings on in Aotearoa including the hunt for Gin [the otter that is, not the alcohol - Leena has enough Vodka to see us through the residency or the first few days as least…]

so anyway on the way back to Devonport we spot the otter! Naturally we jump into a handy dinghy and head for the point that K made the sighting – things started to unravel a bit from there, we lost sight of K in the mangroves [luckily we manage to maintain Len’s whereabouts due to her smoke signals… but well this was us this evening

hopefully we will have more luck at actually getting to the conference!

happy birthday karla!

2006-07-01T10:14:00.000+12:00

vicki has made an amazing cake for karla's birthday - i don't know when she found the time to whip it up but it's a real work of art. it will be a tragedy to eat it! here's a photo of me & vicki at the villa in raetehi, when vicki had just pulled the cake out of her backpack to show to me. can you see how it's got a doll stuck in it & a black netting veil? karla's going to love it!

Now i have to go back to the paddock and organise getting the valiant out of the mud. i feel a bit sheepish about it now but we had a pretty wild time eh girls! ; )

i guess trudy is pissed off at us for not turning up to her party - she said everyone was really looking forward to meeting karla & leena. i hope they were looking forward to seeing me & vi as well but maybe they weren't.

what has been most surprising about meeting leena is her smell! it's one thing you just don't get over the internet ... it's a strong leathery smell with a hint of vodka & a subtle flavour of something i can't quite put my finger on, but it makes me think of wild flowers in spring when the last of the snow is still on the ground ...

Wanna Hug?

2006-07-01T03:32:00.000+12:00

I feel bit really awkward but still I really want to write about this. I am almost breathless about the fact that Vicki, Helen and Karla all have so great bodies! I've met Karla once and remember being amazed how petite she is, but with Vicki and Helen I've seen mostly the upper body on webcam. And here they are, creatures that have legs and waist and ass. That is really nice.

we missed the party...

2006-06-30T23:24:00.000+12:00

As you can see we were coming prepared! hen and i gave len and k their swandri’s and Ug Boots and we called into Foursquare to pick up a few party essentials. we were a bit ahead of time and decided to go for a ‘bit of a burn – up country…

Well it was going ok but then hen got a bit excited about the new improved Lucy the Valient and there was an open gate… we ended up doing a few doughnuts in a paddock and getting stuck!

Apparently according to the helpful lass who gave us a lift out we can get the tractor out in the morning and resuce the car but well the shame of it all is … we missed the party!

Luckily we had a few supplies with us...

Instant Jet Lag

2006-06-30T19:21:00.000+12:00

Mon dieu! I can somehow process that I have landed now after a really long trip. My body is still in Finnish time but I not sure what it is back there, and what day it is supposed to be anywhere. I am at Puk's, "dazed and Confused" but can't wait to meet Helen and Vicki. Soon!

This picture of me trying to stay awake was taken by a young Swedish man Joakim in the Singapore airport where we had some beer and a great conversation about Ursula le Guinn and alternative societies.

in the air

2006-06-30T10:27:00.000+12:00

– last minute dashing around the house [fond farewells to the chickens] before my friend Kath and I drive to the airport - I have to relinquish control at this point but luckily I can see the control panels and nothing seems to be flashing dangerously

Taking off from Hokitika airport and seeing the weather ‘over the hill’ I see why the co-pilot was questioning why I would be leaving the coast in weather like this - once over in the east the country is covered in cloud

Looking down on the fluffly landscape reminds me of another plane landing [the sun was in a similar position and the plane’s shadow played a flickering movie as the clouds parted and closed around our descent

coming into Wellington another time I saw a complete circular rainbow on the wingtip as we descended toward the sea and that tiny looking airstrip

Luckily Hen is ready with Lucy and away we rev heading north to Raetihi to the warm welcome of Lynne and Grant at the villa unfortunately don't have time to unfold the skis and do a few turns on snow covered Ruapehu!

she's like a new car ...

2006-06-30T10:26:00.000+12:00

i've picked up the valiant & she's like a new car - all smooth & quiet, none of the old whiny graunchy gearbox : ) and she has synchromesh in first! the transplant is from a VC which is a couple of years younger than lucy (she's an AP5) - but she also has a door from a VC so it's all good.

i've been at the airport this morning, dropping off rosa casado for her flight to dunedin ... and then back to the airport to collect vicki!

just in the nick of time ...

2006-06-30T00:13:00.000+12:00

she's ready! lucy the valiant has her new gear box installed, she's purring like a pussy-cat and all ready to be loaded up & we'll head for the hills. it's a relief - it would have been such a disappointment to leena & karla not to travel in style.

better get packing!

lift off

2006-06-29T08:39:00.000+12:00

Len and K will be getting on the plane soon!

They will get to see movies, drink bloody mary’s, sweat at Singapore airport and watch the little plane inch its way over the brightly coloured world [i love that bit]

I’ll be flying too today – in a tiny 18 seater over the alps [depending on which path they choose through the peaks i might get to choose a few lines for the trip back...]

from Christchurch to Wellington the next stage will be a bigger version - hardly the same exciting take-off – getting pushed back into your seat, no Singapore girl with hot towels and soothing voice… although Wellington can provide quite exciting landing at times!

I think I’ll take my backpack too – the way the car repairs are going it looks like we might be hitching to Auckland!

disarray, data-ray

2006-06-28T22:59:00.000+12:00

shit, they're getting on their planes over there & nothing is ready here : ( thanks to the inclement weather, lucy the valiant's gear-box transplant is still somewhere in transit in the snowy mountains up north. i haven't heard anything from vicki-puk about picking them up in auckland, i think she's still buried in the magic flute. and there's no food in my fridge. at least they can stay at vi's friends' place in auckland. at least they have packed hats.

I am leaving tonight

2006-06-28T21:13:00.000+12:00

I hate packing!

My suitcase is way too small for almost one month long trip, so I decided to take my rucksack instead. Still, it is like trying stuff a hippopotamus to a... to a... I don't know. Invent something tiny yourself!

After the workshop I am supposed to travel around NZ, to Wellington at lest and Auckland and give some presentations about Accidental Lovers, it'll be great to show the material (as it is now, in this phase of the production) to new audiences and hear their comments. I suppose I'll have plenty of time to finish those slides on the plane. 30 hours! sigh.

One of my big perversions is that I LOVE New Zealand accent. I hope my stay there is long enough to pick that up. My English-speaking friends and colleagues in Finland, prepare to be shocked when I return!

Hatware

2006-06-27T06:30:00.000+12:00

I have been told it is wintertime in New Zealand. With the experience of Finnish extremity I am not really sure what NZ winter means. How cold will it be? Help me choosing which hat to pack with me? Which one will be good for the NZ conditions?

musing on sun and small change

2006-06-26T09:32:00.000+12:00

in Hari hari i have a paddock that will eventually become where i live and work – over the last two days i have been there enjoying as much sun as these short day allow and doing battle with weeds amongst the native planting – one of the Kowhai I put in two years ago is now taller than me!

i have kowhai seed pods for the ‘souvenir pack’ I am assembling to give to K and Len. They are so beautiful the shapes of the pods, the yellow seeds inside and the tui beckoning yellow flowers in spring [Kowhai is a word for yellow in Te Reo - the language of Maori]

the flowers used to feature on the 2 cent coin but it has gone. Soon to be followed by the 5 cent [featuring our very own dinosaur the Tuatara] – at least Len and K won’t have too much difficulty working out their small change when they are here :)

Kate Sheppard features on our $10, along with Edmund Hilary and Sir Apirana Ngata and Ernest Rutherford... and of course queenie

Other items in the pack are a map of NZ badge, and a piece of pounamu from here – Te Wai Pounamu - all wrapped up in Pukeko Print paper!

Midnight sun and female visibility

2006-06-25T20:49:00.000+12:00

This weekend was Juhannus, i.e. midnight sun festivities in Finland. Cities get empty as everybody travels to summer retreats and festivals to celebrate. Not me though, this is the first time in my life that I spent the midsummer in Helsinki. It was great, a wonderful dinner outside with couple of other friends that didn't want to go anywhere and hardly no one else around. Then to sauna and midnight walk in a very very quiet city.

Actually, we don't have midnight sun in southern parts of Finland, sun goes down 22:49 and get up 3:56 in Helsinki. This leaves a fair amount of light anyway :) This picture was taken approximately at midnight.

Why am I telling this in here? I don't really know. It just that quite often I hear Finland compared to New Zealand. Both countries have, although really different, very unique and beautiful nature, which leaves its marks to the citizens.

Ooh, and the female power! New Zealand was first nation to grant women the right to vote. Finnish women got the right as the 2nd nation in 1906, and Finland was the first country in the world to have women in the parliament, 1907. Does it reflect anywhere nowadays? I'm not sure because there are countries (Sweden) where equality between genders is more advanced.

Although I would claim that ABC's plays empower women, our Dress The Nation plays that reflect the current political events happening in a global scale, have of course the known male politicians as front figures, because the lack of women in the high power places. And perhaps even the classic men go to war, women are victims -trail. But how visible is the gender in DTN and DTN2? Maybe it would be interesting to trying to make a point of that in DTN3, which we'll probably start to develop in scanz.

Really Ready

2006-06-23T20:18:00.000+12:00

It might seem superficial, but once I have pinned down the outfit
I'm going to be wearing for most of the trip, then I'm really ready.
These are my German army boots, broken in and handed on by two
German women. Wool socks are essential if these boots are to take
me where I need to go, and as you have noticed, I have delicate feet.
The 1960s wool checkcoat is called a 'car' coat, which means I might have
to spent quite a bit of time in the Valient. This is one of my handknit wool
scarves - everyone gets one for Christmas, if you don't have one yet,
its on its way. Finally, Finnish handknit mittens. I have a wide selection of these mittens. Some are Estonians. I imagine they will be highly coveted in NZ.
Ok. Really really ready now.

hazardous conditions

2006-06-23T09:11:00.000+12:00

we're having the coldest winter i can remember for some time; almost all the routes between wellington and auckland have been closed by snow, ice and slips. the desert road - the main state highway - has been closed for 2 days, and alternative mountain routes are also closed. earlier this morning the taranaki route was closed with a truck accident. meanwhile down in south canterbury the power is still out - some people haven't had power for 12 days.

i hope karla & leena are prepared for the rugged conditions here. we kiwis are hardy pioneering folk who don't bother with such comforts as central heating ...

valiant update: the mechanic says the old gear box was completely knackered, he doubts we would have made it to auckland, it could've gone at any moment. he's had to track down a second hand box, which arrives this morning, so already it's costing more and taking longer ...

navel gazing and star gazing

2006-06-23T08:49:00.000+12:00

Lying in bed I look out at a glittering square of sky – do Karla and Len get to see skies like those here?

The peppering of bright stars filled with the talcum of more distant constellations, the milky-way a flick of an unclean paintbrush its opaque trail splattered with clouds of stars and patches of black – no star holes suggesting doorways to elsewhere

As solstice they leaving their longest day to fly towards our shortest - while in the air will they watch the north star disappear and perhaps notice Matariki [seven sisters or Pliedes] maori new year – a starry navigation to the beginning of a new direction in the journey of Avatar Body Collision

Perhaps on the way from Auckland to New Plymouth we can stop at Waitomo – a boat ride through the subterranean tunnels with glowworms as avatars for stars!

First Step

2006-06-22T12:05:00.000+12:00

gearing up

2006-06-21T12:41:00.000+12:00

as the sun touches the snow on the mountains outside i start to gather images to share and incorporate into a record of the expedition ahead

next week i plot a course from here, out of the valley, past a lake, through primordial podocarp forest, travelling up the coast to the airport in hokitika and flying to Wellington to meet Helen

together we will drive to Auckland to meet Karla and Leena who journey from the sun in the northern hemisphere into the wildness of Aotearoa this winter

while voyaging to this meeting, leaving our various realities for our residency at SCANZ under the conical peak of Taranaki, i imagine how the dislocation will affect us once we are together

in my bread and butter existence i travel a lot, and am used to seeing the others from my kitchen and borrowed phonelines around the country, in the hallway at my sisters, in a friends bedroom, a motel or a school

i am excited to think of us all together, a road trip from Auckland to New Plymouth the four of us inside the windows on the landscape of lucy the valient

so different from the desktop windows into the realtime situations we usually meet from - looking at hats on a wellington wall, into the medialab at Helsinki, or a residence in south east london

with camera and ipod I want to record the journey in the time honoured tradition of the road trip

– colliders in physical space - the effect will be cinematic!

Jandals, kai & no. 8 wire ...

2006-06-21T11:43:00.000+12:00

strewth, i've rulised that k & len aren't akshully gunna unnerstand a buggery thung win they git to godzone; we're gunna hevta busta gut to get them upta speed with the kiwi vernacular, i reckon. akshully being pakeha, they'll needta learn the protocol for the powhiri, or someone might hev a wee hissy fit, eh. we'll hevta stock up on L&P, hokey pokey, peanut slabs, vegemite (oops shit vegemite's akshully 'stryne usn't ut), weetbix end akshully monteiths too (vi & i both being mainlanders, even if i'm a temporary defect - d'ya reckon we cud git some sponsorship outta monteiths? that'd be choice!).

ez thus whole malarkey uz akshully running on the smell of 'n oily rag end a but of no.8 wire, we're gunna hevta get up at sparrow's fart 'n' put un the hard yakka or ilse we'll all be sucking the kumera - end i'm not taking the piss!

but at least we'll be out un the wop-wops, eh, up the proverbial boohai, if y'know what i mean. akshully it's gunna be a but of a dag, rully. she'll be right, eh bro? whadayareckon? sweet as(s).

Tickets, money, passport & nicotine gum

2006-06-21T05:41:00.000+12:00

Yay, today I got my plane tickets on mail! This is it:

FINNAIR - AY 97
WED 28JUN HELSINKI FI SINGAPORE SG 2335 1815
1 STOP HELSINKI VANTAA CHANGI 29JUN

THU 29JUN SINGAPORE SG AUCKLAND NZ 2100 1030
NON STOP CHANGI AUCKLAND 30JUN

I'll be in Auckland 30th, 10:30 AM. I can't bare to count how many hours I have to spend in an aeroplane, tin can. Smoker's hell.

Warning for those that'll meet me in Auckland. I'll be desperately chain-smoking first four hours. Then I can talk.

Change of Gear[box]

2006-06-20T23:48:00.000+12:00

today i took the valiant in to have her gear box surgery, in readiness for the long drive ahead to collect k and len from the airport. i hope she will be fully recovered in time - it's only just over a week and they will be here!!!!

must try to think of something special for k's birthday ... i wonder what she would like.

Change of Mind

2006-06-20T03:28:00.000+12:00

I think I will go to Poland instead. Anyone care to join me?

It has begun

2006-06-19T22:36:00.000+12:00

Aah, this is it. The journey begins when you start to plan it. Only couple of weeks and I'll be in New Zealand!