In 2007 EE wrote about 'Sounds from above the ground' by Duncan Speakman at the Enter festival in Cambridge. It was a beautiful new media art event at which you could hear ambient noises, pre-programmed sounds and the voice of the host through headphones as the audience followed the artist around town. Since then, there have been several projects which have used headphones to create distance and intimacy within an arts event including one that EE was involved in: 3rd Ring Out.
Last week, as a member of the Pedagogical Team of the European Diploma of Cultural Project Management of the Marcel Hicter Foundation (try saying that after a couple of glasses of wine), EE was in North Western France. A particular highlight was a remarkable day spent in the company of the artists of Au Bout du Plongeoir ('At the tip of the diving board') at their base just outside Rennes.
This is an association which has been 'handed' an old country house / farmhouse by the local authority with the remit to create ground-breaking artistic ideas and initiatives at the same time as looking after and renovating the building. Their community includes performing and visual artists and a psychologist.
We arrived late morning after a coach ride from Nantes for an introduction, an imaginative ice-breaker in which participants were asked to think about 32 questions (such as 'what's at the edge of the diving board?') and a hearty lunch of carrot soup and homemade pizza.
Then we set about the important business of resting ...
One of the leading Plongeoists (terrible anglification, sorry) is Domenique Chrétien and he has an initiative called L'ART DE SE RE-POSER. He was/is a theatre director of 10 years and without wanting to put words into his mouth, he has, like many people involved in that sort of work spent his working life in a frantic busy existence. Now, he is developing an initiative around the idea of rest. This is rest which is not sleep though. It is about 'la pause, de la non-agitation, du silence, de la réflexion' (I don't think that needs translating).
So, during the afternoon we began with 15 minutes in which we could do anything or nothing. EE sat by the stream and watched the water as he's always found that sort of scene incredibly restful. Then the Diplomists split into three random groups and each was led by a different Plongeoist in talking about their project.
I'm wary of talking about or mis-representing their techniques without permission, so I will merely concentrate on one aspect. One group walked in the woods and was asked to talk about what was exciting about their projects.
Talking and walking is a wonderful experience. My Grandad (John Hick who died two years ago last week at the age of 97) was one of the greatest of all walkers. There would never be a visit to the Grandparents without a significant walk (often around the 'Reservoy' as it was colloquially known) during which we all talked endlessly. The result was refreshing in a way the Plongeoists would appreciate.
It was while we walking that I was reminded of that art event three years ago. As the Diplomists are a multi-lingual group we needed an interpreter and a magnificent set of mechanical apparatus so that we can all understand what's being said. The radio signal is powerful, so it's possible to hear what's being said some distance away from source which provides a strangely intimate/public experience, as you could lag behind and hear people talking and having their words translated in a rather gentle way. I don't know why, but there is something about this setting that encourages people to be more honest and direct than usually happens. EE himself got positively pretentious (surprise), speaking about whether to pick the first acorn and conker you find or whether to try and find a better one.
So, here I sit, on a Sunday afternoon writing a blog and following Tweetdeck, Facebook and Guardian Online when I should be out exploring. Some people are such slow learners.
