daily paris

all together now

2008-09-26T09:04:00.005+02:00

six months in six minutes? who said it couldn't be done?
this wasn't quite what I'd planned to do with these photos (as you'll see) but slideshows are so last year...

the end

2008-09-12T03:06:00.007+02:00

my flight home had technical problems and so I was forced to stay in LA for 24 hours.
without a spare pair of knickers I was, understandably, a bit upset. but now I think it's a god-send.

this trip was unexpected. I often feel that the art I desire and make doesn't quite fit in the australian dance scene. so while I was desperate to go to paris, it wasn't something I was counting on. the irony of me getting something at the right time hasn’t gone unnoticed.

this trip to paris has been life changing. everyone goes through a time when things are imperceptibly wrong and we (australians) have so little to complain about that sometimes we just keep pushing.

coming back through the US and being forced to stay longer in a lonely city has allowed me some time to reflect on this trip. there are artists and discussions that have changed me. paris has changed me. new and old friends have changed me. talking each day with you has changed me. and I’m hoping to find that those changes stay with me.

I want to thank the australia council for keeping this strange studio and this rare open time for artists. It’s very brave. and quite spectacular. paris is not really a city for making contemporary art and so the space becomes a city of thinking and experiencing.

if you can't click on the above video, I've decided to make a short film about paris with some of the left over photos I took. I'll send it through as soon as I can.

thank you for opening your hearts to me. you can never know how much safer I feel and how the ground beneath me feels like it might be solid again.

love clare x

day 165

2008-09-10T14:08:00.001+02:00

last day in the US, so I thought I'd meet some performance artists to see what was happening here in the portland underground. I went to a funky local coffee shop where lee kyle (left) and kaj-anne pepper were working, hanging out and talking about art.

lee currently has a one man show where he covers himself in blood while singing show tunes and burning the american flag. he showed us some pictures of a recent performance where he added a interesting twist (literally) where he removed all of his clothes and then inserted an oscar up his rectum.
funny thing is he seemed super nice over coffee!

last day of my adventure tomorrow. not sure what I'll find in transit but I've adored looking for things to share with you...

day 164

2008-09-09T20:50:00.003+02:00

after lots of art today, two pageantry choreographers (think marching band / dance team), took me to the gorgeous columbia river gorge. my american dreams came true when a stretch-hummer (above) arrived and spewed out a gaggle of 70+ year olds with champagne, attitude and walking sticks to see the view.

after the nature, we had cocktails at a strange gay 'cheers' bar (where the waitors wore towels and nothing else) to numb the memory of the portuguese dance where the solo performer 'inhabited' a paper bag for 30 minutes. the festival is super fun...

day 163

2008-09-08T21:13:00.002+02:00

tricycle on the corner of martin luther king and freemont...

today was a jérôme bel day: firstly an artist talk and then a performance - his duet work 'Pichet Klunchun and Myself'.

so much to say - I was in paris for five months and I had to come to portland to hear and see this french choreographer reveal himself. stunning work. stunning words. it was quite liberating and I'll come back tomorrow to talk more.

day 162

2008-09-07T18:24:00.000+02:00

as we were driving next to her, ophelia told us that she got this gorgeous bike for her 8th birthday. she was on her way to open her downtown boutique where she specialises in sunglasses for every occasion...

day 161

2008-09-06T11:17:00.009+02:00

I'm in portland for the TBA Festival and it seems very different from houtson. of course, everything is so different from paris that I'm not sure how to interact with it.

I miss places that are old: places where age isn't noticed.

but here, it's new. super new, like us - we are essentially new. even with very old cultures that influence us, our architecture and cities, they are new, and it's apparent everywhere from the building materials, to the width of the streets...

day 160

2008-09-05T10:43:00.002+02:00

reflecting in the reflections of downtown houston...

day 159

2008-09-04T17:41:00.004+02:00

I spent the day at Diverseworks, a multi-discipline arts space in houston where I will be working next year. this place feels right: like art is meant to be made here. it's housed in a re-claimed warehouse with a series of commissioned art works hanging outside. this work 'mickey' was made by joyce pensato...

I'm not sure I will have time to really look at this city properly, but my first impressions are that although paris is now like a beloved old coat, houston is so shiny and new that it reminds me of australia: empty spaces, strips of reflective buildings, large concrete roads and no one on the streets...

day 158

2008-09-03T11:39:00.003+02:00

a day transiting from an old familiar city to a new alien one...

day 157

2008-09-02T22:53:00.008+02:00

regret nothing..........

"no, I don't regret anything. neither bad or good.".....

katrin's new work based on the edith piaf song seemed pretty appropriate for 5 months of introspection, discovery and revelations.... thank you for joining me - you have been delightful... x

(if I can, next stop: shopping malls in houston)

day 156

2008-09-01T21:19:00.004+02:00

packing, cleaning, storing, giving away, more packing, moving, cleaning again, re-distributing, traveling.

last day at cité so we visited some of our fellow artists to say goodbye. this is katherine's (from australia) new work that is being drafted on NAB posters brought from australia. some art and a nice cup of tea makes everything better...

day 155

2008-08-31T19:57:00.002+02:00

mum arrived yesterday and so we went to L'Institut du Monde Arabe and went up on the roof to take tea and look at the people below.

it's our last day in cité today and it's a bit sad. three more days in paris...

day 154

2008-08-30T22:07:00.005+02:00

I was walking back from a friend's atelier this morning and I looked around me and remembered how amazingly beautiful paris is. even walking through the car park back to my studio was charming.

the first time I came to paris as an adult was in 1998 and I remember being shocked at how people living here didn't see the beauty and history around them. I commented about this to a friend and he said that australian's are the same with space - we don't notice how much space we take up, how much space we need and now expect.

I never thought I'd take this beauty for granted, but walking through a corridor that was built 300 years ago and gently opened up to the sun reminded me that I now expect to wake up to this - and, that I've stopped seeing it. this feels like home now.

I'm going to miss the daily interactions, the discussions about art, the support from other artists and other practices. and I will miss being surrounded by beauty. this constructed and artificial place that houses 100s of cultures and myriad art forms and practices. how will I adjust again?

day 153

2008-08-29T23:59:00.000+02:00

tonight we went to the left bank to drink some wine and experience the amazing array of music and dance that was on offer. there are a series of little amphitheatres that house different music (sometimes live) and different dancing: from tango, to swing, to a latin hip swirl that I am deeply envious of.

here is a little of the envious dance that I must find out the name of...

day 152

2008-08-28T21:56:00.004+02:00

the stade de france is the site of great national pride: in was built for the 1998 FIFA world cup where france won the final by defeating brazil 3-0. who would have thought?!

this is the stunning view of this national icon from the local metro stop in the suburban area of saint-denis. definitely worth checking out...

day 151

2008-08-27T13:13:00.005+02:00

today I went to the studio of nemo and his fellow stencil artist jerome mesnager who creates ghost-like dancing creatures throughout paris. sometimes these ghosts meet nemo and they have been seen together doing circus tricks and sharing a glass of wine on various buildings throughout paris.

their studio is in romanville, right around the corner from where we stay in the suburbs and it now makes perfect sense that these stencils should meet socially.
unfortunately today the artists themselves weren't in, but these images were taken directly accross the street on bvd. henri barbusse and it was just lovely see a differnt context for these transitory creations...

day 150

2008-08-26T11:59:00.001+02:00

it was day 150 and I wanted to do something special. so I went up the paris version of the canberra telecom tower: tour montparnasse. here, we were told, we had the best view of paris: and this is what I saw (click to enlarge)...

it was nearly as good as the canberra version but to make things more special they marked our height above ground on every stair and every wall...

day 149

2008-08-25T23:22:00.006+02:00

I got up super early this morning and took a coffee and a croissant down to the seine to see what might happen. things always happen here if you let them. and things did: the aqua-police did a synchronised swimming display that seemed to last for over ten minutes and then the state department decided to pull up the road while cleaning it at the same time (the green men cleaning have just walked out of shot but I can still hear them flushing the construction site with water and then earnestly sweeping it)...

everyone seemed calm yet confused. I love paris. even at 7am when everything is still sleepy...

day 148

2008-08-24T23:44:00.002+02:00

another rainy night near gare de l'est...

day 147

2008-08-23T21:58:00.003+02:00

we are leaving cité soon, so we decided to make an indian feast to celebrate the gorgeous friends and fellow artists we have met here. we went to buy supplies at Marché Barbès in the 18th, which is, as well as being super cheap, a complete sensory and experiential immersion.

the bizarre order within the chaos that has to be breathed to be believed. this place is yet another world within paris that I only discovered today. after 5 months...

day 146

2008-08-22T21:59:00.005+02:00

after work today we went on a tram adventure to the parc andré citroën in the 15th arrondissement.

these fountains are super fun but are surrounded by very stern signs that absolve the marie de paris of any injury that might befall you should you slip anywhere near them. but the fountains are only one of many joys in this parc that has colour coded gardens for touch, smell and movement and entire glass houses dedicated to both white and black plants...

day 145

2008-08-21T23:59:00.002+02:00

mannie & maluti drawing at an impromptu party...

day 144

2008-08-20T11:59:00.000+02:00

our front gates at cité...

day 143

2008-08-19T19:05:00.004+02:00

paris plages just keeps getting better. it has a temporary pool, beside the fake beach, next to the river...

I'm not sure I could have asked for more - except palm trees but they have provided those as well.
sadly it has rained steadily since I took this shot this afternoon...