Dedicated to Sophie Herxheimer with whom I am collaborating with this week (read about Chris McCabe’s class and project here), Philippe Gaulier, Brene Brown, Jamie Wood, Halifax Airport, Robert Frost, Andrew Haydon, Sophie’s mother.
The following is my offering up to Sophie, after she sent me the two videos above. We had a couple of phone conversations about the footage we’d sent each other and about our lives. Previous to that we’d sent each other some texts and facebook messages with random questions and thoughts, mainly from the position of being very sleep-deprived.
It turns out that we’re both very nosy and seem to like gathering lots of information before picking out what sticks.
Lying in bed, writing on my phone at 2am, I wrote Sophie wrote fuzzy things like
“colour. Was there a time in your life when you didn’t wear colourful clothes? 5 words to describe then.
Do you speak French?
Did you ever peel stickers off Rubik’s cubes?
Why has the word “witch” popped into my head twice since yesterday? (Not as a description of you!).
Sea or mountain? Jungle or desert? Hot or cold? Egg or chips?
What names of people carry bad associations?
Do you sleep well?
What’s your favourite film.
Poet? Writer? Piece of art? Food?
Tonight I’ve been thinking about “happiness”. One question.
What makes you happy? Is happiness easy or difficult? Slight or deep?”
Bless her. She did very well to not feel obliged to answer everything. I was using her as my sounding board. I am discovering that I enjoy working with someone when I am able to feel the weight and solidity of their ideas, their work, their being. When they propose and suggest strong ideas which come from a history of solid work.
Sophie will now take what she wants, shoot film footage and create a mash up to create a film poem.
I await the text she is writing for me and I will do the same.
All drawings are Sophie’s work, as extacted from Google images.
I
Accelerate to
The Department of Surprising Pan Amplification
The Royal Nation of Portions
The Regiment of the Science of Nourishment
The Ministry of Rich Colour Livings and All the Trimmings
II
Tilt by, lilt by, stop.
You caught me by surprise, Mrs.
A reflection.
Smash everything, Mrs Wholebelly.
One by one or all at once
Plate after plate after plate after cup after cup after vase after dish after joy or woe
Rock and roll everything.
You are more than everything to family I do not know
You laugh me onto things I do not know I know
There is something of me in this
There is something of me in this
I think
we have taken steps across thresholds and down the garden path
Balancing acts on tour beyond bus stops, past the docks
Runways know us
Bon voyage, a bientôt, ici, ici
Nothing is terminal
Home and hearth and food and feelings
Dogs and books and warmth and reading
Miles to go before I sleep
Miles to go before I sleep
There is something of me in this
Smash everything, Mrs Wholebelly
Smash everything, Mrs Wholebelly.
For a Rose-headed Future
For a Rose-headed Future
Bring a plus one and the small ones will toast milk
III
Bengal Rose, Rose Tyrien, Rose Malmaison
Geranium, Rouge Vif, Winsor Emerald, Havannah Lake
Mimosa Yellow, Brilliant Yellow
Egg AND chips
All images by Sophie Herxheimer. Text copyright Vera Chok 25 March 2013
Chok Notes to Self 