Yes, a little play on words I know but the week has been a weird one.
On Sunday last week I realised that Mrs O’s mum was travelling backwards in time far quicker than in the previous 30 months of her incarceration in the prison of dementia. I had become increasing dull following recent visits as I sought to pull out of what seemed like an inevitable nosedive into oblivion. I chatted with her, and I can chatter, about the PV, showed her pictures of the the exhibition and the postcard but they seemed not to register. Other residents wanted a look and they thought the exhibition spaces were my office which I suppose is not far from the truth. Such were the nature of these visits. Even talking about the fact that I was going to be on the wireless the next day was lost. So time moved on.
Monday saw me trotting round the corner to BBC Radio Suffolk for a live broadcast with Lesley Dolphin on her ‘sofa’. Lesley has interviewed me before but via a telephone interview when I with ‘equals’ as artists in residence at Ipswich Town Hall in September 2013. This was so much easier and 28 minutes flew by. Tucked away in the beehive like structure inside the BBC building one is totally unaware of the fact that tens, maybe hundreds of people were tuned in listening to Lesley talk to me about the Edgelands show. I know Mrs O was listening and I found out later that Eleanor May’s mum listed to it live also
Tuesday saw other non-photographic issues taking up most of my day so I missed Lisa Harris also on the wireless with Lesley talking about the Museum of East Anglian Life but I did manage to catch up with that broadcast later.
Wednesday was lost to researching website development issues and Thursday actually saw me begin a new design and then came the phone call and nothing else seemed to matter really.
Friday morning was a scheduled dry run for our RPS high level view of the Ipswich Docks and this had to go ahead owing to planning and commitments to others. In the end it was quite a jovial morning and not unlike an episode from ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ as we tested out our routines getting equipment up the last 14 feet of vertical ladder to the top of the James Hehir building. Friday afternoon saw the forecast come true with enough water falling out of the sky to float an Ark so it had to be tea and cake.
Saturday morning was grim but not as grim as Friday and I met the lovely Owen Berry and his whippets down our street. Dogs are wonderful companions and his two are delightful. The day was just begging to be a day out of the house so Norwich or Bury St Edmunds? BSE it was- we don’t do Norwich on a Saturday unless we happen to be on holiday up there. First stop was the Tourist Information Centre opposite the Angel to drop off Edgelands cards – manned and delightfully so (Suffolk Coastal take note), then coffee and cake. We had the best window seats by chance but I did feel like an animal in zoo as the grockles walking past peered in at me scoffing a great slab of chocolate cake. Suitably refreshed it was off to Smiths Row.
Now I like Smiths Row, always have and it was again to drop off cards but hey ho there was a residency in full flow but the artist had popped out. I was very taken with the abstract brutalism on the walls then I noticed the words and I quote;
‘Indeed, it is edgelands, borders,and often overlooked spaces which mediate the urban and rural landscape in Suffolk that affect the artist: ones which illicit a sense of longing or returning through ambiguity.’ Kate Jackson 2015
Just after reading this Kate came back and I struck up a conversation with her and her mum with Mrs O. It was just one of those days. A meeting of like minds but one with more talent than I’ll ever have. We both had ‘Edgelands by Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts’ as display items in our respective first solo exhibitions and we are both drawn to the same subject matter. We talked about the loneliness of individual practice and I brought up the Freudian Sheep and gave her one of their cards. We parted with Kate suggesting a collaboration which was wonderful. I left the place with a hoppity skip and bounced off to the Apex to drop more postcards at that Tourist Information Centre – also manned on a Saturday (Suffolk Coastal please note again). I grabbed a handful of Kate’s cards to give to other artist friends whilst I was there. Kate Jackson
Time to head back to Ipswich but via the Museum of East Anglian Life for more cake – treacle tart although this was not as good as the tarts I ate through hanging the show. We had a marvellous conversation with exhibition visitors and staff and Mrs O and I got to see parts of this exquisite building not open to the public – thanks Darren that was a treat.
And that was that once we bought some fresh veg from the honesty stall outside the walled garden it was back home and cook dinner washed down with a wonderful SW french white from Wines of Interest. Summer in a glass – it was autumn outside. How time flies….