Make Space: Summer Project 2015
Our Make Space 2015 participants blog about their time with Nic Green.
Day 35
Words by Eno Mfon
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
We danced together,
We danced spread out,
We danced alone,
We danced in pairs,
We danced in threes,
We danced at the edge,
We danced small,
We danced big,
We danced slow,
We danced fast,
We danced with strangers,
We danced with friends,
We danced in silence,
We danced and travelled,
We danced in a corner,
We danced while singing,
We just danced,
We just danced.
Day 34
Words by Eno Mfon
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
With her body, she danced with us.
With his mind, he danced with us.
Day 33
Words by Eno Mfon
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
Where things can run as usual
And opposites meet in the middle
And we can be ourselves
And we can be together
And interruptions can occur
And our voices can be heard
Day 32
Words by Eno Mfon
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
See the sun come up,
Feel like it is light enough,
Time to go home,
Go inside,
Breakfast on the table,
Ready to eat,
Not yet ready to eat,
Pack your things,
Walk through the threshold,
Go inside,
Breakfast on the table,
Ready,
Ready,
Break silence,
Break fast,
Eat quietly,
Shower busy,
Shower free,
Wash yesterday off me,
Dress,
Nap,
Eat,
Ready,
Ready,
Share your story.
Day 31
Words by Eno Mfon
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
I had a dream once that I had entered this garden, it was a secret garden, of course. In your dreams they usually are secret because in your dreams you’re usually alone, and, in this dream I was alone. However, I was also aware that just because a space is empty, that doesn’t mean there’s no other life there, there was, I was sure of it, but I was more aware of myself because when people are far away, you can’t appreciate what they’re going through. So they had entered into their own part of the secret garden, and I had entered mine. I was all on my own, this was a solo. So, I walked through this secret garden and in this garden, imaginings became happenings, my expectations became realities, my ghosts became real, again.
In this dream I was a butterfly, well not yet but I knew when I woke up that’s exactly what I was going to be. A butterfly. I just had to wait and wait and wait. Wait for it… Now? It was so dark in my cocoon. It’s cold and damp. Then I thought, hang on a minute, have I been doing this right? How do I activate this metamorphosis into a butterfly? I mean I’ve done my research, I’ve read hungry caterpillar.
In this dream I was walking on top of the sea. I knew no one would notice me in its vastness, so I began to sing. In this dream I could see my words, they fell out of my mouth in clouds of smoke and dropped, one by one down into the bottom of the sea. I lost my voice.
So in this dream I danced silently, with my eyes closed. Ghost town played on repeat in my head, but in the open air all I could hear was the rustling of my sheet.
In my dream I was wrapped in a sheet, with 2 socks, one sleeping bag, one hoody, three T-shirts, one hat, one towel, one space blanket and tarpaulin. But it felt like there was only one small sheet between me and the blanket of cold.
In this dream there were 9 other people. I did not know there faces, I couldn’t see them, but I knew their names.
As soon as I woke up, first thing I did, I grabbed the notebook beside me and wrote the names down. I didn’t want to forget them. And then, I began to imagine their faces and sleepily, as though still in a dream, I drew their portraits. And slowly, they came alive.
Day 30
Words by Eno Mfon
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
In the grand scheme of things, we become really small.
When someone is far away we can’t appreciate what they are going through.
When you are told what to think you are given less room to think.
Performance isn’t performance until it meets with a witness.
Make space for negotiation and interpretation.
There is a missing piece, bring something to fill it in.
You can both see what it actually is and imagine what it could have been.
You can’t be a perfectionist in this environment.
There is something beautiful in our failures.
We must rely on the sun and wind.
Day 29
Words by Eno Mfon
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
If a space is empty does that mean there’s no life there?
Day 28
Words by Eno Mfon
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
It is new,
The grass we sit on each day,
It sits between our fingers in a familiar way,
We think it remembers our feet and the sounds they make as they play,
But it is new,
The old blades have been cut and have since blown away,
It’s a bit like a river,
Each time a man steps in,
It is never the same,
For it’s not the same river,
And the man has also changed.
Day 27
Words by Calliope Lunn
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
EEK SQUEAK SQUAWK BARK SEQUEL
mumble mumble mumble husshhhhh….
DANCE SHAKE LAUGH RUN FEEL
Day 26
Words by Lotti Seebeck
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
the ideal growth of young artist sprouts requires attentive watering on a regular basis (twice a day will do)
exposition to sunlight and fresh air will benefit the process (twice for ten days advisably)
follow these instructions and grow yourself one substantial and powerful sprouts mix (twice as good)
Day 25
Words by Lucy Sharpe
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
I miss our little place in North London.
I’ve never been so free
in a cricket club.
There is comfort in the knowledge you’re there.
When you’re experiencing this too, in the same way, in a different way, it’s ok, we’ll talk about it after, or not.
Let’s just do something and see what happens.
Let’s celebrate ourselves.
Day 24
Words by Beth Dalton
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
Make space for play
Make space for individuality
Make space for togetherness
Make space for trust
Make space for discovery
Make space for movement
Make space for dad dancing
Make space for reflection
Make space
Day 23
Words by Molly Irwin Clark
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
Ghosts Invade
A bag of bones
A Soviet spy base
Refined clapping reverberates
Where are we?
Day 22
Words by Aidan Strudwick
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
I follow you and you follow me and he follow her and her follow he and I follow you and you follow me and he follow her and her follow he and I follow you and you follow me and he follow her and her follow he and I follow you and you follow me and he follow her and her follow he and I follow you and you follow me and he follow her and her follow he and I follow you and you follow me and he follow her and her follow he and
lather, rinse, repeat.
Day 21
Words by Mariam Turay
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
It’s not necessarily what we know
It’s what we learn and what we can learn from each other
“6… 6.. 6 ..Wide…TV Screen”
Day 20
Words by Jayson Patterson
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
We find resistance. We work with it.
We persist through loud noises. We persist around bugs. We persist over rain. We persist over pain.
Find your threshold and put it in a small box. Pass it around the group. Destroy the box almost immediately.
Day 19
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
Words by Rosa Irwin Clark
The Game.
Call. Listen. Call. Listen. Laugh. Repeat.
Let the voices guide you. Let the palms of your hands lead you.
How many uses does a cricket pitch have? How many can we invent?
Call. Listen. Call. Listen. Laugh.
Call. Wait. Cal. Wait. Ca. Wait. C.
Is this the best day of your life?
Day 18
Words by Robert Reynolds
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
Freedom of expression dominates our stay here.
Sound travels through the space.
People pass through the space.
Energy moves all throughout the space.
We danced and sang as the music played in any boomtown.
While we continue our movements to prevent a ghost town.
Day 8
Words by Nic Green
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
We are trying a difference in approach.
When will we see the sunrise?
Ghosts slowly appear as figures dance in the distance.
Day 7
Words by the whole group
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
We swapped outdoor cricket for indoor cricket
All the dads were different
We had so much fun, just had so much fun
One big room full of dad dancing
I see the moon, the moon sees me
I see my dad reflected back at me
Daggy dads diving disco dancing
Our navigations distorted, but the rights of many.
Day 6
Words by Eno Mfon
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
Close your eyes, let go and fall backwards into the group.
Day 5
Words by Eno Mfon
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
Q. How do we describe what we’re doing here?
A. “It’s very complicated and strange, and very eccentric and that’s why it’s wonderful.”
Day 4
Words by Eno Mfon
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
One by one they revealed themselves,
One came by carrying her home behind her back,
One calculated the wind before sailing a plastic bag,
One by a head tuck and roll,
One blind and deaf, in a blue curtain and headphones,
One by the main entrance,
One by alarming us of his presence,
One in red from head to toe,
One lost her way on a path she did not know,
One watched us from a cage, and not one of us could tell,
One asked when he should reveal himself.
When you are ready,
One by one.
Day 3
Words by Eno Mfon
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
We are learning together.
We are learning how to travel together.
We are learning how to travel together, while sharing the weight of our individual stories.
We are learning how to travel together, without compromising the self.
We are learning.
Day 2
Words by Eno Mfon
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
We use our eyes like speech marks to say what we can see.
And our feet like charcoal to draw a map, plotting where we should be.
Day 1
Words by Eno Mfon
Photo by Oliver Rudkin
To explore how to let yourself be seen.
To explore how to bring your whole self into the space.
To explore how to tread lightly in the space.
To explore what is here.
To explore what is beyond.
To explore where this space starts and where it ends.
To explore where we begin and end in the space.
To explore why we came.
To explore why the unfamiliar is uncomfortable.
To explore how we are, where we are, what we are, and why we are, here.