Watching waters flow

while travelling in a southerly direction:

seven times ten minutes
standing in a frozen position,
arms beside my body,
watching waters flow.
 

–Paris, on a bank of the Seine,
looking West.
48° 52.2390′ N, 02° 14.3756′ E

–Romorantin-Lanthenay, on a bank of the Sauldre
looking South.
47° 21.2233′ N, 01° 45.3386′ E

–Le Vigan, on a bank of the Arre,
looking North-East.
43° 59.5507′ N, 03° 38.2293′ E

–Collioure, on the shore of the Mediterranean,
looking North.
42° 32.0067′ N, 03° 04.5352′ E

–Alquézar, on a bank of the Rio Vero
looking South-East.
42° 10.3075′ N, 00° 01.5504′ E

–Albarracin, on a bridge over the Rio Guadalaviar
looking South-West.
40° 24.4811′ N, 01° 26.3659′ W

–Blanca, on a bank of the Río Segura,
looking East.
38° 10.8122′ N, 01° 22.7189′ W

Memory Allocation

In the Parque De Las Cuevas (38° 10′ 36″ N 1° 22′ 06″ W) there is an empty semi-circle of sand measuring about 60 by 30 metres. At the outer edge of the semicircle are ten benches, arranged in groups of four, two, three and one. The benches face the centre of the space. Between and beside these groups of benches, there are five straight walkways, which are, like radials, also directed towards the centre. The Río Segura runs along the flat side of the semicircle.

What struck me when I first entered this empty space, was the character of the design. No one I spoke to remembered a theatrical event that had ever taken place there, the only thing I can imagine the design was originally conceived for. Despite its spatial structure, the large empty space seems to have no real function.
Late in the afternoon, occasional passers-by take a seat on the benches. During the day it is just too hot there, facing south in the full sun.

I decided to give the location more substance by charging it with personal memories.
On ten consecutive days, late in the afternoon, I invited ten acquaintances for a conversation on one of the ten benches. They live in Blanca or stay there regularly. These conversations were unstructured, enjoyable and of unplanned duration.
The memories will stay with me, but more importantly, they will also stay with my interlocutors, and through them, with that place in Blanca.
 

Thanks to:
Kris Limbach, Sarah Rose Guitian Nederlof, Maga Esberg, Giuli Grippo, Elena Azzedín, Hanna Szabó, Eduardo Molina, Abraham Hurtado, Raul Herrero, Selu Herráiz.


 

I am sitting on a chair on a terrace. On the table in front is a glass of beer. Opposite me, at the other side of the street, is a wall to which a galvanised drainpipe is attached. The wall is plastered in a dark brown colour to about 1.20 metres high. Above that, the wall is pink. The pavement in front of the wall consists of grey tiles, stained and dirty.

What constitutes a scene?

A scene is a unit of story that takes place at a specific location and time.
If one of these changes, you have a new scene.

(http://screenwriting.io/what-constitutes-a-scene/)

From 1 October to 30 November, 2021,
I am working in residency at the AADK in Blanca, Murcia (Spain).
The works in this mailing were created in the month of October.

I began my research from the notion of
Subjective Topography,
developed within the AADK project
Body, Territory and Spatiality.

On 19 September, a symposium concluding La Biennale de Momon, took place in the full auditorium of the Dordrecht Museum. The participating artists were present and gave lectures about their work and about the context in which the work was made. Only Sarah Boulton was unable to physically travel to Dordrecht. She did her presentation by means of a video projection, followed by a live Zoom connection. 
As guest speaker, Ruud Akse gave a presentation about the natural connection of his artistry with the curatorship of the (NP3-) presentation spaces. After each presentation there was a, much-used, opportunity to ask questions and to discuss.
Present was also Carron Little, driving force of the organisation Out of Site Chicago. She streamed the presentations live, so that the event could also be followed online via outofsitechicago.org.

Due to the pandemic, the project took a year longer than intended, and the course of events was also adjusted to some extent. However, the core of the project remained fully intact (see momon.fr). 
Contacts between the participants in this project took place exclusively online. This meeting became a particularly festive event, because most of the artists met each other for the first time in person.
The symposium was recorded on video by Steef van Lent. He is making a film about the entire Biennale project, which will soon be officially presented.

I would like to thank everyone who contributed to this special project and to this symposium. First of all the artists:  Sarah Boulton, Marc Buchy, Joan Heemskerk, Susana Mendes Silva, Josh Schwebel, Lisa Skuret, Elia Torrecilla and Martine Viale.
In addition to the artists and the people earlier mentioned, I also want to thank the Dordrecht Museum and the municipality of Dordrecht, and of course the residents of the village of Maumont.

Click here for photos and videos of the event.

 

The Rockbottom is a photographic print offered at a special price, presented at the bottom of each new maling. 


This work measures 22,5 x 30 cm and is printed in Fine Art quality on Hahnemühle Photo Rag (310 gr).
A print costs €150,- including VAT, excluding shipping.
The edition is determined by the number of orders, within two weeks from the date of this mailing.


The title of this work is:
10/04/2021-17:29 
(click for a close-up)

Are you interested, please send your name and address details to rockbottom@fransvanlent.nl, citing the title of the work.