6 October 1999

Hi Rita

Well, I've bashed my head again today, so I decided that I'd email you now because I think that I'll need to go straight to bed tomorrow after the GLAD AGM. It's more a problem caused by new glasses than by anything else; I've been desperate to get new glasses for several years, but now that I've managed to buy them on HP - I couldn't face going to Finland without them - I'm finding it hard to adjust to the new focal perspective (given that I've got no peripheral vision with glasses), particularly when I'm tired, which I obviously am.

I have a suggestion to make which I don't whether is practical even if you like it (or have already had it! - I'm more and more intrigued by the fact that we're sharing images and ideas over the ether as well as the Net, as is obvious from our emails). This is that, next week, we offer visitors the opportunity to touch the work, first dipping their hands in phosphorescent paint. This would create further marks and traces, although these would only be visible in the dark when the moon is covered and when no one is actually there (though these would be recorded on the time-lapse photos). The reasons I am suggesting this are as follows:

It would continue with the theme of traces and marks, particularly those that are hidden and only visible/obvious some of the time

It would continue with the theme of public involvement

It would have resonance with the hands of the outside world reaching right into the centre of the Priory and destroying the community during the dissolution

It would disrupt the conventional idea of art as something which cannot be touched as well as reflecting the fact that people want to touch art. It would also allow visually impaired visitors to interact more with the work

It would disrupt the work itself

Since the use of plaster has created a resonance with body casts, disability aids etc, it would have resonance with issues around touch and the disabled body

It would mean that we used light right through a 24 hour period, creating shadows on the grass and reflections in the water as well as the whiteness of the surface reflecting light strongly in the moon and sunlight, changing to the marks glowing in the dark (so long as the sun comes out long enough to charge the paint during the day!). This in turn would have resonance with our discussions about light and dark within paganism/Christianity.

Maybe this is totally impractical . . . maybe the paint is dangerous (although I suppose using those plastic gloves wouldn't completely negate the point) . . . maybe you hate the idea . . . anyway, that's where my (admittedly rather battered!) head is at the moment.

Hope that you had a good break and that the weather isn't making it too unpleasant for you.

All the best for Thursday

ju90

Webmaster/site slave and Multimedia Storyteller
Created by Nature Modified by Life

ju90@netmatters.co.uk
http://users.netmatters.co.uk/ju90/ju90.htm