Out Of My Head

Hi Ben, good to meet you in this in-between place, and at the very start of our journey together.

As I have followed the work of the other artists so far, I have been struck by the use of text, and the playfulness of how the words have been used, deleted, moved and changed. I have also enjoyed the mapping, both of real places, and of conversations and journeys of thought and imagination. And then imagery of the body and landscape, elemental images of fire and ash.

My own work is very much about going out into the world and receiving information from it - sensory information onto my body, and thoughts/ideas from conversations with others. Much of my work is participatory, and all of it is about dialogue.

For my Block Chain work I have been over thinking things as I wit for my turn, so decided I needed to get 'out of my head' on this first day, as well as respond to some of the elements that I have observed in others' work.

The text I started writing on my feet, takes some of the thoughts out of my head (about my personal understanding/experience of dissent - see below), and then the place (my garden) provides a reminder of the 'real' world 'out' there ready to distort my words, quieten my thoughts, grounding me and bring me back to the present.

I'm keen to explore how being vulnerable, authentic and open, although seemingly passive, has a power of its own. By being openly, fully me, in my daily life as a man with a husband and a son, living in a rural area, I am conscious that I stand out. As a tall man, again I stand out. As a man working often in pre and primary school settings, again I stand out. Being authentic and vulnerable in these situations sometimes feels enough of a stand to take.