Mapping Past & Present

Creating Map. 1

5/20/2015

Day 1/Map 1

#1 2:46pm

Sat by skeletons of plant and animal.  Listening to strange birds.  Thinking of collecting what gets washed up.

#2 2:52pm

Found an amazing ball and a beautiful piece of plastic.  In between here and there.  Excited for treasure.

#3 2:58pm

Pussy Willows growing.

#4 3:10pm

A blue bucket sitting upright collecting rain.  How did it manage to keep it’s position here in this cove?

#5 3:15pm

Mezmerized by the colors.

#6 3:21pm

Looking at a spot that I flew, I cried and I said goodbye before.  This jagged cliff.  This gleaming sea.

#7 3:27pm

My nest of stones remains.

#8 3:31pm

A most beautiful rock formed into almost a hexagon.  A small window between two rocks looking at a fierce ocean.  Raindrops fall making freckles. 

#9  3:39

Just saw two of the tiniest ducks in my life--and they are mating!

My nest of stones. 2015

My nest of stones, 2011

Field Notes Day 1, Iceland Map 1.

First of nine stops started at 2:46.  The following eight stops finished at 3:49.  The space between these points measured exactly 218 yards.

I brought back a couple sheets of plastic, a round metal ball, a smooth bone, a heart shaped black rock.

Completed Map 1. Infinity Scarf

Creating Map 2.

5/21/15

Day 2/Map2

#1 3:21pm

I remember sitting here my first day, then, wondering how would I or could I paint this?  I remember falling in love with the sparkles towards the end of the trip and promising to return.  Today the sun is shining and casting starlight on the water.  I feel safe.  I enjoy the screaming birds.

#2 3:42pm

Sat listening.  Feeling the wind and sun on my face.  Looking at the stripes of blues and beige.  Thinking how to slow down, to stay here.

***At this point my measuring yarn broke

#3 3:54

My swan clock.  The daily crossing ritual.  Today a different birds wing marks my path.

4# 4:02

Discovered this little soft spot.  Protected by the small hill.  Peaceful sounds. HARK!  BATTLE CRY!

5# 4:14

Noticing the perfect mosaic of stone in the black sand.

6# 4:18

These beautiful orange rocks, lapping water.

7# 4:21

When deciding which rock to bring back, I look down and see this heart rock.

8# 4:42

The cracking earth.  It's begun to rain.

Field Notes Day 2, Iceland Map 2.

It started out sunny with beautiful bird song.  The bird song became battle cries and I had to be vigilant against attack.  I found two pieces of driftwood that acted as both clubs, and musical instruments.  I found a wing of this type of angry bird, known as Kria, (or arctic tern), at the same point that my swans used to cross.  I collected two heart shaped rocks.  My string broke, leaving only time to measure distance.  Returning back it began to hail.  I wondered, "Am I boring?"  I wonder now, "Who invented mapping?  What did early maps look like? What did they map?  Do we follow a predestined trail? Do we map to find our way backwards? Is every piece of advice and every biography a map?

I think the only map to follow is one unseen but known by heart.

Heart Rock

 

Creating Map. 3

5/22/2015

Day 3/Map 3

#1 1:18pm

The site of my first hand installations.  The shark hanging shack.  Maybe it was a sense of habitation that drew me to it.  Funny that it’s a shed to dry the dead fish.

#2 1:21pm

What is this flat pile of black rocks for?

#3 1:25pm

Grateful for the warmth of the sun today.  It’s amazing how sunshine initiates joyful feelings.

#4 1:29pm

To sit here in the sun, watching starlight and listening to ocean sounds is heaven.  I remember being here in different weather and feeling frightened by nature’s force.

#5 1:36pm

It’s all blue and silver.  The green is arriving under the straw.  Imagine, me here alone in this space.  I feel summer here.

#6  1:52pm

Just a little higher still.  Thinking of not moving.  It’s so wonderful.  Maybe stay awhile longer here.

#7  1:58pm

Thinking of collecting some of this black sand?

#8 2:05pm

I needed to walk out here to investigate what this was.  I’m not sure what it is?  I’m going to put my hands into the ocean.

#9 2:06pm

(Putting hands in water)

#10  2:08pm

Did it!!!!

I was here! Now, then.

 

Shark Shack 2011

Shark Shack 2015

Field Notes Day 3, Iceland Map 3.

I headed out to the place that felt like an anchor or lighthouse then.  I think because it is a manmade structure, resembling shelter, and the only one you can see.  It still stands now, all rambled down.

Then I walked over to the cliffs to my left, the sun remarkably bright and warm.  I noticed how weather impacts our perception and our feelings.  Before when visiting these cliffs and cove, they resembled monster teeth and I felt terror and awe of nature’s strength.

Today was an invitation to play and touch and be touched.

The treasure found on this path was experience.

Creating Map. 4

5/22/2015

Day 3/Map 4

#1 4:11pm

Holy shit!  Soft ground has never been so wonderful!  This is the most splendid day!

#2 4:13pm

This already looks like art.

#3 4:16pm

You can hear the water falling from the cliffs--and the swans are approaching.

#4  4:20pm

This spot is heaven.  I remember painting with dandelions around the corner.

#5 4:26pm

A Pussywillow bush grows out of the cliff under the waterfall.

#6  4:30pm

I’ve looked into this pool before.  Now there are baby fish chasing eachother.

#7 4:34pm

And here I lie with my arms spread out, eyes closed and say out-loud, “Thankyou god, Thankyou god, Thankyou god!”

 

Thank you God!

Field Notes Day 3, Iceland Map 4.

I decided to take advantage of the weather’s invitation to explore.  It was going to be ok.  I headed out to the island via the hour-long trek on a stone jetty.  I started with glee and a fast pace, loving the sounds of the black rocks under feet.  Somewhere in the middle when you have lost sense of how far you’ve walked because it’s all black stone, and everything in every direction appears tiny in the far distance, you begin to feel the pain.  Determination kicks in.  Arriving, I felt ecstatic and comforted by the soft sands under feet.  There where my swans!

The Island is there, not seeking anything, not needing anything from us.

I collected a big pink tattered piece of plastic and wore it, during the trek back.  The Kria left me alone, I think they imagined me as a Big Bird, since it almost looked like giant wings as I walked.

I found an urchin shell that looks more plant than animal.  I don’t believe that I or we are so different than plants.

Plants have wisdom.  Intelligence is not the same as wisdom.

Treasure Bags:

Dying the fabric for bags with found minerals

Each map includes a  treasure bag,
which contains the found treasure discovered that day. 
The bags are hand sewn,
with hand written field notes,
and the yarn that belongs to the corresponding map.

Repose

12:00am Baer 5/22/15

With all the best intentions, I must relinquish myself from posting to this blog during the rest of my stay here at Baer (this time).  I find the days long, but short in number.  I care about the content of this blog and it's aesthetic. Due to time restraints, I have decided to spend my remaining time in the physical field, collecting materials and making.  When I return to the states I hope to revisit this blog, with a complete presentation of my experience.

Takk! (Thank you)

The sun shed from the south,
the moon's companion,
with its right hand over
the rim of the sky.
The sun did not know
where to seek repose,
the stars did not know
where they could rest,
the moon did not know
what might it had.

Stanza 5. Völuspá (The Prophesy) translated by Bernard Scudder

Mapping Place, Past & Present. Day 2. Attack of the Birds.

This day was full of humor from the gods.  Odin, Freyia, Thor? It was a day of opposites or splits.  Started out with sun and ended with hail.  One hour of mapping tells it all.

Day 2

#1 3:21pm

I remember sitting here my first day, then, wondering how would I or could I paint this?  I remember falling in love with the sparkles towards the end of the trip and promising to return.  Today the sun is shining and casting starlight on the water.  I feel safe.  I enjoy the screaming birds.

#2 3:42pm

Sat listening.  Feeling the wind and sun on my face.  Looking at the stripes of blues and beige.  Thinking how to slow down, to stay here.

***At this point my measuring yarn broke

#3 3:54

My swan clock.  The daily crossing ritual.  Today a different birds wing marks my path.

4# 4:02

Discovered this little soft spot.  Protected by the small hill.  Peaceful sounds. HARK!  BATTLE CRY!

5# 4:14

Noticing the perfect mosaic of stone in the black sand.

6# 4:18

These beautiful orange rocks, lapping water.

7# 4:21

When deciding which rock to bring back, I look down and see this heart rock.

8# 4:42

The cracking earth.  It's begun to rain.

***Field Notes

It started out sunny with beautiful bird song.  The bird song became battle cries and I had to be vigilant against attack.  I found two pieces of drift wood that acted as both clubs, and musical instruments.  I found a wing of this type of angry bird, known as Kria, (or arctic tern), at the same point that my swans used to cross.  I collected two heart shaped rocks.  My string broke, leaving only time to measure distance.  Returning back it began to hail.  I wondered, "Am I boring?"  I wonder now, "Who invented mapping?  What did early maps look like? What did they map?  Do we follow a predestined trail? Do we map to find our way backwards? Is every piece of advice and every biography a map?

I think the only map to follow is one unseen but known by heart.

This map is in the form of the Kria Instruments.  

Mapping Points in Place, Past & Present. Day 1.

I began a new project that I am calling for now, 'Points of Past and Present'.  It is a map, or rather many maps made in to one larger map.  I am revisiting the points in place (here at Baer) that were meaningful to me in 2011.  Each day I set out to a site or area from the past, and I mark both the places then, and now, that call my attention.  I observe the memories, the feelings, and present thoughts, as well as the actual environment.  As I move between these points, I measure the space traveled in time, and physical distance, by using Icelandic wool yarn and my iphone.  I am documenting the experiences with photography, audio recording, writing and video.  I also am collecting treasures on the way.

Since this project is like all my work, with no clear ending known until I arrive...I do not yet know what the maps form will be.  I am trusting the same process that led me to begin following my dream--which is simply heartlistening.  A word I was given here in Iceland in 2011.  The word describes the process of listening with your heart. 

Today I was reminded that the heart is the only true guide to follow.  We each set our own course, and create our own map, perhaps as a way to find our way back in the future?