I began writing down frequently recurring instructions which I had collected by dealing from the Oblique Strategies cards by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt. I kept each that had a resonance with my train of thought in the month before the Brisons Residency
Don't break the silence
Listen to the quiet voice
Lost in useless territory
Breathe more deeply
Faced with a choice, do both
Turn it upside down
Into the impossible
Distorting time
Ask your body
Repetition is a form of change
Retrace your steps
Courage
From nothing to more than nothing
The most important thing is the thing most easily forgotten
Be extravagant
Is there something missing?
Retrace your steps
Remember those quiet evenings
Go outside. Shut the door.
Retrace your steps
On the evening of our arrival I read instructions to the other artists and asked them to respond spontaniously with a word. I collected their words
Up
Yes
New
Precious
Amazing
Me
Cobbled
Adaptor
Generic
Chuckle
Plus
Reaching
Through
Error
Terror
Tremor
Toddle
Decide
Timbre
Sound
Slosh
Simplify
Wave
Ahh
Aha
Peddle
Cavern
Tired
Shining
Echoing
Imaging
Drink in
Truncate
Hooked
Sand
Cooling
Sanctify
Hedgerow
Soft
Shuffle
Springing
Loosely
Lift
Small
Refreshed
I had brought some roughly cut squares of cotton and some textile letter stamps. I sat on the floor, enjoying my close proximity to the sea, my perch above the path and the occasional surprise of passing walkers. I could have sat at the table or desk, both probably more comfortable, more practical, but there is something about sitting on worn, sun washed floorboards that takes me off to other times and places. Each square contains one word from an Oblique Strategies phrase - other words were from the initial conversation with my companions, a not quite acrostic but with poetic potential.
I initially tried to install these phrase by phrase,
out side against the render of the house
or on a washing line but the wind made it impossible.
Instead I used a series of wooden battens in the studio space and installed them phrase by phrase. It s a meditation on possibilities, time, change, chance and communication. I also included some tiny figures. Everything about the making was deliberately imperfect.
A kind of pilgrimage - walking on foot - tiny people
just like the 00 Gauge figures
I had brought in my kit of possibilities
installed the morning before our departure.
I shared the results with the others and was happy to find that each person really enjoyed the contemplative meander it allowed them to make, words connecting in random yet somehow meaningful ways. It was very hard to record photographically, the 6 am light made the fabric grey, the introduction of available extra lighting added some interesting shadows but threw out the whiteness of the fabric and the walls. Later in the day the light was slightly kinder.
Refresh Your Yes
Temporary Installation
Brisons Veor 2016
Carole Miles
More images can be viewed here
Many thanks Brisons Veor truly "a residential workspace set in an inspiring and unique location, where creatives in any medium can take time out to work on a project, away from the day-to-day distractions of their home lives". Huge thanks also to Susan Williams MRBS for making this Residency possible, Gareth Williams and Andrew Rushton for their words and encouragement.
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