The Washing Line

“Big Issue? Small Issue?”

“No thank you.”

Apart from the train conductor, the Big Issue/Small Issue man was the only person I spoke to on my way back to the Working House after some considerable time out.

I saw a sign “We are collecting for the homeless. Period.” I think this means that it will never end.

It is summer and I should be working in the fields but the harvest already happened it seems while I was away.

I am back here again in the Working House and they have put me in yet another wing. I am now really quite part of the furniture which I move frequently in order to create a bit more space for myself.

I am daunted by the mirrors in this wing. Everywhere I look I can see myself and I find it very disconcerting.

So what to do?

It’s been almost four months since scratching the surface of this work. I hardly remember what I did. Thankfully I recorded it and you will have seen some snippets here already if you follow this blog. If this is your first discovery look back to Diary 13 and you will see my delicate offering which is very much in progress, but there is an interesting dialogue on the film between me and one of my visitors.

I have three weeks to recollect and revise the work before I am sent out again. They have told me that then I can’t come back again for at least 8 weeks, which is well over the 28 day rule but I don’t want to outstay my welcome so I am towing the line.

I have reconfigured the space because I was unhappy with the sightlines at the scratch. I like to have my eye on as many of my visitors as I can so I am now in a “traverse” arrangement. I have used this configuration only a few times on other work and I like it a lot. It sort of creates the sense of equality one associates with an “in the round” configuration but it also has the potential for the hierarchical “proscenium” arrangement, so we get the best of both worlds.

I use “we” here since I have a collection of characters to whirl around this layout and I want the opportunity to use wheels, since I have done so much lifting and carrying since I have been coming here.

Today I decided to bring nothing with me except the writing equipment thinking that I would edge my way in gently.  Most people are on holiday this time of the year and only the crazy would do something like this locked away in a room of artificial light when the sun is only a window away. This wing has no windows I have to say, only mirrors. It cultivates narcissistic tendencies and I am told is only used when absolutely no other wings are available.

So to let myself back into the work I have re read all the scratch comments and listened to an interview Jenny did with me following the scratch some of which you can listen to here and pondered over this blog entry.  I tried various ways to reduce the audio for this blog but then decided it would be quicker to put it up on vimeo so here it is:

By Carran Waterfield in The House, Working diary - The House on August 10, 2015