Who are you?
Residency report // settling in, seeing what's here, surfacing new project questions
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I am writing to you from my small, top floor apartment in the alpine village of Sottochiesa, with the shutters and windows open so I can see and feel the thunder and lightning which rumbles a deep rombo over the wooded mountains of the Val Taleggio. On the floors below, six other residency fellows are presumably busy with their work, or eating, or sleeping.
In this first week, we have eaten together once, worked together on a small, shared project briefly one evening, and had a ‘team meeting’ about the residency theme (minerals), but by and large we only see each other in passing as we each head out for the day in different directions or out on the covered back porch, our communal area and outdoor studio for those making paintings and pigments and the like. We have a Whatsapp group to keep each other informed of our plans so that someone always knows where in the mountains we are (and when we’re due back) and as a way of sharing information on footpaths, buses, availability of salt/tin foil/marker pens…that sort of thing – but mainly we each go about our work in these quiet mountains of the Bergamese alps, by ourselves. Some stay close to base, others have picked one place to return to over and over, others like me are roaming as far as possible without any personal transport, or buses, taxis, or few people to hitch a lift with. I like the possibility that opens through constriction.
This is suiting me well. It’s a comfort to know that there are people around to share ideas with (they are all lovely, talented artists from around the world!) but it was my express wish (and I suspect theirs) to come and work in peace and quiet, and to walk in solitude as much as possible. This could be best described as a science-meets-art walking residency, and so true to that I’m walking many new miles every day as far and high as I can given the heat, documenting my thoughts and process as I go, and then returning ‘home’ in the afternoon as the heat builds to mark up my map with completed routes, write everything down that is filling my head, and edit photos. I am also swimming everyday in the various rivers and tributaries that drain the valley. Somewhat paradoxically, I seem to do my best consolidating in water.
Before I left, I was nurturing some implausible fantasy of living a more monastic, ascetic, life back in Derbyshire and now that I’m here I’m getting to (unexpectedly) put a little of that ethic into practice. The apartment is very simple, and furnished in quite a traditional way, but it has fantastic windows. The bed and pillow aren’t very comfy, the church bells ring all day and night waking me repeatedly, and I am living on the simplest of food that is possible to purchase from the tiny Alimentari in the village. I only have the opportunity for occasional contact with the outside world through my phone (patchy internet and insufficient data - this post has taken AN EPOCH to upload), and the village itself feels very remote, though it is only 10km from the nearest town with a supermarket (for which there is a bus, twice a day - but I’ve not been yet because time feels so precious at the moment). I keep to a schedule, I nibble on cheese, I have no TV, radio or even music. I find the Virgin Mary around every corner, tucked into windows, ledges and ruins, holding out her tiny plastic hands. She seems to say well, you asked for it.
And I did. But in the coming weeks, I may grant myself a podcast episode or two. I may even leave the valley for chocolate.
My project itself is already evolving. I came with my idea and title, but in meeting the landscape I have surfaced some formative questions that need exploring. I have found myself unexpectedly drawn to an aspect of the geology that is little documented and not much cared for, realising that before I can proceed with the ‘Refuge’ aspect I need to at first become better acquainted with the core material. This feels exciting, and furthers my longer term project of exploring geological intimacies from a different angle.
But there are still weeks ahead, and it may all change again tomorrow so I am trying to be light with whatever arises. I am reminded through the presence of the others here, to be bold and experimental if I need to be, to let this be a chance to try new things and not only what is familiar and comfortable. With that in mind, I’m trying to rely less on my observational, academic eye that gets fed into the familiar confines of creative non-fiction prose, and instead to draft poems, revel in single sentences, draw stuff by hand, write nonsense that goes nowhere, paint something. I want to break the narrative, chop it up, let ideas be disjointed, fragmentary and, for now at least, sufficient.
Am I confident about any of this residency business? No. Not in the slightest. But am I absolutely loving the challenge of it? Yes. I belong in the mountains, and to my work. I trust in that at least.
Here are a few snaps of my search for Argillite di Riva di Solto over the last couple of days. A rock that has been essential for building sturdy alpine roofs in this area for centuries, to the point of over extraction, and yet so little is known of its story. It is a truth universally acknowledged that no one cares about claystones. And yet I find myself asking who are you?
This residency hosted at NAHR Italy is kindly supported by a grant from the Geological Association, UK.
Wonderful
How fun to see photos and read about your beautiful spot for residency. Yes to venturing out to find chocolate and other Italian treats. Enjoy getting to know some new rocks!