Put down the phone, pick up a pen
and just draw
Konnichiwa friends
I am still here in Japan as artist in residence at Aomori Contemporary Art Centre. Aomori is, I’m told, the snowiest city in Japan, and we got a taste of that this week with the first big dump of the winter creating magical Narnia scenes and some slithery road conditions. It has all thawed again, for now, but I expect we’ll see some more before I leave for Tokyo in early December.
I’ve been travelling every day from the residency to Aomori Citizen’s Art gallery in the city centre to work on my collaborative drawing ‘Confluence’. It’s been a week of steady work, with plenty of willing helpers picking up a pen to add a few bubbles to the flow of the growing river. There’s been the occasional hiccup when I’ve arrived a little late to discover some random ‘helpers’ have left their mark.
On both occasions I’ve managed to retrieve things, but I’ve had to set a rule that nobody gets a pen unless I’m there to hand it to them and show them what to do. This seems to have worked, but it has meant I’ve had to be there all day, every day, holding the space and keeping an eye on things.
As long as people stick to the ‘draw circles’ part of the brief, I can usually remedy things, with a bit of patience. Some particuarly…bold additions will always be visible, just part of the story of the piece and its collaborative making, I guess.
We had some excitement early in the week when the TV crew arrived to film a live slot on Aomori TV. Fortunately, all I had to say was a cheery ‘konnichiwa!’ and then leave the rest to ACAC curator Tomo Setou to explain things for the breathlessly excitable presenter. One of the receptionists kindly recorded the slot for us. Here’s me, looking a bit awkward.
After a busy weekend in the gallery with lots of visitors keen to do some drawing with me, it was time to call it a day. I’m running out of space! Plus, I need some fresh air and a bit of a breather. The drawing has now reached a length of about 6 metres, flowing off the table and across the floor. There’s not much room to go further, for now, without blocking the entrance. I may drop back in during the coming week and do a wee bit more, but now that I’ve decided people can only work on the drawing when I’m present, I don’t have to be there all the time to watch things. It’s a bit of a relief, after ten full days on the trot.
But the space of steady repetitive drawing is one that can, I find, hold the mind and body in a steady equilibrium for hours on end. I’ve done solid six-hour stints this week, without feeling mentally restless. It’s the body that gives out first, or, these days, the eyes.
There is something about resting the mind on the moving tip of the pen as it makes the small, repeated gesture of the circle that feels infinitely spacious and calm. As people sit down to work with me, I can often feel them settle and soften. I hear their breathing quieten and steady. Once they realise that I can’t understand much Japanese, the curious questions drop away too and we simply come into presence, quiet beside each other. Some visitors have returned repeatedly, ready for another stint or just curious to see how much the drawing has grown.
In spite of the occasional hiccup when I haven’t been there, and some peoples’ tendency to turn everything into a rabbit, cat or geometric shape which I later have to sweep up into the bigger flow, it has been a beautiful experience and a privilege to share this space with so many others.
If nothing else, I hope they might remember how it felt to set down the smartphone, pick up a pen and just draw.
Now, freed from long days in the gallery, I have time to pick up the threads of some other things I want to do while I am here…more on that next week!
Until then,
Jaa, mata! じゃあ、また
Sam
P.S: Closer to home, I have a recent painting in the exhibition ‘Nature Turns’ opening soon at the Royal Scottish Academy, that was completed just before I left for Japan. RSVP HERE to receive the invlitation to the online preview on December 4th and/or the gallery Private View on December 6th.
P.P.S. A quick reminder that there is no Life Raft co-working while I am in Japan. I’ve had some people asking why it’s not running – it would be the middle of the night here! We will be relaunching in the New Year so watch this space.
This is so beautiful — both the work itself and the discussion of the process. Also the photos. The shared aspect of the work, in the created artistic space that holds it, is moving.
Shall I admit (here and to myself) how much I still live in an earlier era by disclosing that for a moment I misinterpreted the headline? My first thought was, how could this amazing writer and artist be telling people to stop speaking on the phone and to write letters to each other instead, at a time when the cosy habit of phone conversations, which create so much connection, is beginning to fade away?
Of course I figured it out a moment later.
I do wish that phone calls weren't falling out of use among the generations that have mostly had pocket computers to talk into, instead of landlines. A video conversation isn't the same thing as the long phone calls my generation have always had, and heaven knows texts are nothing like them at all.
The thing the title is actually calling for and that the piece shares — real, shared presence — is naturally even more important…
Slow and steady, she goes. What an incredible project! Regarding the snow, you wear it well ❤️