Dreams from my father

Reading this book by Barack Obama at the moment - I love the way he writes. His insight and articulation and honesty inspires me to try harder. I'm about halfway through it now and thought I'd share one line from it that I found particularly thought-provoking:
"I can see that my choices were never truly mine alone - and that that is how it should be, that to assert otherwise is to chase after a sorry sort of freedom."

#9:

transport to library: bicycle, but I am too tired to ride so far today
temperature: 16.8 degrees, humidity 59%
temperament: again it's muggy and thinking about rain, what happened to weekends meant for sleeping in? Why is it we run off nothing and expect to keep up with this overly busy city life?
activity: thinking again about empty space, bigger picture of piece
time: 11.10am arrive library, 1.33pm Almost leaving 

Conversation with Jeff, a library patron:
How is it going?
I am confused, because I think too much.
Well you need to prioritize and get on with it Chay-Ya. You know what
your message is, so say it simply.

Through the window in

Chalk and kalaidescopes

Chalkboards through a kalaidescope

#8:

transport to library: bicycle
temperature: 18.2 degrees, it appears to quite often be 21 degrees in the library Bom
temperament: grey sky with the consistancy of clag or custard, the immediate possibility of a shower or a downfall that may pass without arrival
activity: chalk up new propositions
time: 4.12 pm arrive at the front of the library, 6.08pm saddling up my bicycle steed to ride home 

Partly cloudy. Scattered showers and the chance of thunderstorms from around midday. Winds north to northwesterly averaging up to 35 km/h tending west to northwesterly during the afternoon and southwesterly this evening.

#7:

transport to library: bicycle
temperature:
temperament:
activity:
time: 3.38pm arrive library, depart on the dot of 6pm closing time 

Written by a man from Canberra called Robin

"Analogue girl living in a digital world" - Jafa

#6:

transport to library: bicycle
temperature:
temperament:
activity: artists talk in library with whole world
time: 6pm until 7pm  

When building something in public at any point in time it is a
finished work.

Unpacking a studio in public

What is it to work while your peripheral is full of other contenders?
It's not a performance as such where every move is watched, rather a
subtle influence, can you maintain a sense of youself? What were my
ideas that I had in private before I stepped into this space?

Light meteors reflected out of the floor

#5: ready ready go

transport to library: bicycle
temperature: 24 degrees
temperament: rainy, warm, full of apricots
activity: drawing, writing, pushing the work in direction of motion 
time: enter library 12.05pm, leave 3.02pm

Donde te sentis separada?

Where are you feeling separate?

Que estas creando?

What are you creating?

Don't just assume...spend more time in the inquiry

-- overhead from a community meeting as I climbed the stairs to clean my paintbrushes

A friend I hadn't seen all year magically popped into the library, he asked me what I was doing and I said I didn't know yet. He told me how he had heard Laurie Anderson being interviewed once and on the subject of making work she said something to the effect of you just make work and then you finish it and at the end you might know what it is.

The wall is really like a book

Masking one last time

Masking the inside line this time to paint the last coat of white. We
are nearly ready for lift off!

#4:

transport to library: bicycle
temperature: 20 degrees
temperament: a day that doesn't quite know what it's doing and so it takes it easy being neither warm or cold, but listening and and opening itself to the possibility of wonderousness sometime soon
activity: potentially last layer of paint
time: around lunchtime

Forecast for the rest of Thursday

Partly cloudy. Local early drizzle then isolated showers developing this afternoon. Winds northwest to southwesterly averaging up to 25 km/h.
From Bureau of Meterology

Wherever you are, be there totally

--Eckhart Tolle

So rainy!

To ride and get wet or to hide in the alcove of the library and get
wet?

Agreeing

I was thinking about guidelines for participation, in particular this work being a invitational and participating work of public art. Don Miguel Ruiz's Four agreements came to mind and when I searched for them on the net I found this quote that is quite inspirational..

"I invite you to participate in a new dream for humanity, one in which all of us can live in harmony, truth and love. In this dream, people of all religions and philosophies are not just welcome, but respected. It doesn’t matter whether you believe in Christ, Moses, Allah, Brahma, Buddha, or any other being or master: Everybody is welcome to share this dream. Each one of us has our own beliefs, our own point of view. There are billions of different points of view, but it’s the same light, the same force of life behind each one of us.
 
If you decide that you want to help me change the world, the easiest way is by practising five agreements: be impeccable with your word; don’t take anything personally; don’t make assumptions; always do your best; and be skeptical, but learn to listen. These are the tools to change your world, to change the world, and they are nothing but pure common sense. If you practise these five agreements, if you make them your way of life, there won’t be any more war in your head. There won’t be any more war with your loved ones. There will be peace."
Don Miguel Ruiz, author of The Four Agreements
From here

Even expensive masking tape from the paintshop seems to bleed?

How much green? How much white?

Still painting, layer upon layer, cleaning the roller and brushes inbetween each time I swap colours. White and green. Cloud and Kermit. Unsure of what this work will become. Should there be more chalkboard spaces? I love the impermanence and playfulness of chalk. What is the white space for? The ground of contrast? Or a work space for some kind of drawing to occur? A space for words, typographical jaunting?
I've done three layers of chalkboard paint now and my paint tray still has green in it. Wash it all out or paint another green square?

just saying it could even make it happen

Cycling to the library in this stormy summer rain I was listening to Kate Bush and these lyrics seemed to sing the day:

But every time it rains,
You're here in my head,
Like the sun coming out
Ooh, I just know that something good is gonna happen.
And I don't know when,
But just saying it could even make it happen.

-- from the song 'Cloudbursting' by Kate Bush

Three muskateers

When I arrive out front of library there is a bike almost identical to mine parked where I have been parking the last few days. Now there are three of these rascals! How uncanny.

#3: painting and then?

transport to library: rode bicycle in the rain
temperature: At 2.55pm it is 23.4 degrees, humidity 67%. Rain since 9am 17.6mm from
BOM
temperament: the day feels quiet in a tired, restful and slightly nervous way. A storm is coming, the rain is warm.
activity: popped into library in morning to get in another coat of paint so there would be drying time, returning in afternoon to see the 'and then?'
time: 9.09am leave home - 9.39am arrive at library - 10.47am depart library - 4.00pm arrive back at the library - depart library at 6.00pm closing time, waiting out front for rain to clear

Ode to Kermit

Masking shapes

For chalkboard, there are a few permanent fixtures which have some
reign over the design. These are the shapes I'm thinking, any ideas?

# 2: layering up

transport to library: rode a faded red bicycle
temperature: on arrival 21 degrees, humidity 78% - on departure 27 degrees, humidity 51%
temperament: some glare and mug in an otherwise pleasantly disposed early summer day
activity: continue painting, first layer chalkboard
time: 9.13am leave home - 9.59am arrive at library - 12.36pm dePart library

Ginger beer, organic strawberries and a coat of paint will cheer anyone up.

'Art in progress'

After a few hours of scrubbing the walls clean with sugar soap, it's almost time to paint, but before that Its definately time for a lunchbreak.
This paint tray is made from 100% recycled pulp fiber, it is biodegrable in 4-6 months once you're finished with the project.
The roller arm is a high quality and durable piece of equipment, I opted to pay more for something that would outlast one use and instead continue to work in the future.

The library - the space

Started raining

Loaded up

Selecting paint

I went to Bristol paints in Clifton Hill because I had seen multi-coloured blackboard paint in the window, to my delight I discovered it was made by an environmentally conscious Australian paint company Murobond.
I went with Cicada chalkboard paint and White Block textured Murowash, which was the best colour match I could get to the warm colour of the paper in my moleskine sketchbook. I chose textured acrylic over flat to create an interesting surface to draw on, similiar to fine tooth pastel paper.

Environmental impact of Murabond paint

While all manufactured goods including paints have an environmental cost, we can all minimise this cost through product selection, usage, and waste management. Murobond Coatings employs a number of measures to reduce the environmental impact of the paints it produces.

Murobond sources raw materials, and other components, as far as possible within Australia to lower transport costs. The cost benefit analysis of all raw materials extends to their ‘whole of life cost’, that is we weigh longer performance against higher environmental cost when considering new materials.

Our manufacturing procedures contain and recycle waste water as far as possible (85% at June 2001).
As signatories of the National Packaging Covenant we minimise the use of packaging, seek recyclable options and recycle. Under the covenant, we document the future reductions in usage that we will achieve and our progress is monitored by the National Packaging Council.
We accept clean drums for recycling.
We are actively involved in the development of paint recycling.