3 September 1999

Hi again Rita :)

I couldn't stop thinking about the residency last night, after retiring to bed shortly after stopping work because I desperately needed to lie flat. So . . . a few more thoughts on top of what I said yesterday:

I think that other reasons why I like the idea of incorporating water is that it doesn't just reflect the changing sky, it also reflects something different according to the angle that you look at it from. And it can reflect light on to other objects, eg a stone wall. Water is also very important both within Christianity and Celtic paganism. (I've always liked Philip Larkin's poem "Water" - do you know it?) So I was wondering about whether we could incorporate a clay container of water in some way?

I still like the idea of including the snake symbol within a tree. Quite apart from the other aspects that we've discussed, I was thinking about the contradictions of believing that knowledge was introduced by the devil, yet spending a life where studying was integral!

In relation to what you said about fragments of latin etc, I wondered if the Carthusians had a particular motto which we might incorporate? I hope that Tim can get me some research material soon: it's frustrating not to be able to follow these things up, but I just can't go out physically searching for books; and I'm also too shattered at the moment to be able to sit up and surf the Web in the evenings. It will be easier when my other work's cleared and the residency officially starts.

I was also thinking more generally about the purpose of a site-specific installation like this, based on past personal experiences of different art works in outdoor or unusual settings. I think that one purpose is to change the way and the intensity in which the viewer experiences and thinks about the setting as a whole, not just the artwork that they've paused to look at. I never think it matters that this works on a subliminal, unconscious level only - I think that's what makes it so effective.

In this case, the setting was chosen by the monks to aid contemplation, and to enable them to reach a higher spiritual level, and also, one presumes, to increase their awareness of the natural world. So another criteria for siting should probably be the views - and the light etc - of the setting as a whole from that spot. That doesn't have to mean it's beautiful, of course - if you wanted to explore the prison angle at all, a dark, cramped and oppressive site would be far more appropriate!

I was also looking at the Carthusians' daily schedule again, and thinking about the place of manual work within my life. Obviously I don't do much! But I do manage to prepare food - I can't pretend I cook! - wash up, empty bins, water plants and do the laundry, and I tend to spread these tasks through the day, partly to keep them manageable and to give me a break from the computer, but also to use for reflecting on the work I'm doing. I find that it's much easier to drift around a topic and think laterally when most of my mind is occupied with routine tasks, and often come up with additions or changes to the work I've just done after I've been in the kitchen, for instance. So that made me look again at the role of manual work within the Carthusians' schedule, and think that the whole of their lives was contemplative, really.

I decided to go to sleep when I started thinking about different realities - you're real, and the site is real, but in one sense you both only exist in my imagination at present!

Hope you have a good weekend.

All best wishes

ju90

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