TRAVEL DIARY

A weblog regularly updated by Jodi Rose.

keskiviikko, maaliskuu 24, 2004

4:53 PM
Posted by jodi rose

moi! So, I missed the 18:40 ferry to Suomenlina last night, and so also the secret bar aka officers club. But I have a feeling there will be another chance.... Decided to catch the next ferry at 19:40, because it was so beautiful down at the harbour, with the evening lights twinkling and darkening sky. Quite an experience, cutting through the sheets of ice - they are slowly melting now, but there are still some large slabs floating around. The ferry back was even more exciting, as you can hear the hunks of ice thudding on the hull of the boat - mixed with the sound of water trickling in the heaters, a strange auditory sensation. Met up with Sophea and Andrew on the island, they took me over to John's place at the nifca residency studios. Stopped to buy a bottle of something at the shop - very puzzling range of light beer, alcoholic lemon or lime fizzy drink and pear or apple cider. Didn't try my selection in the end - red wine seemed much safer. So John made us his famous garlic pasta - apologies to anyone I may have breathed on inadvertently today! - and we chilled out in the shared lounge room with an incredible selection of books in swedish, danish, icelandic and finnish. Walked back to the 11pm ferry, the island is magical and still at night, watched some ice cracking from a bridge, made it home by midnight. was planning on having lots of sleep and getting up at 9, but jetlag had other ideas and I woke at 5am again, restless and full of ideas and plans. Eventually just gave in and got up, cleaned the fabulous apartment, wrote a few lists and set off to film the matinkaari bridge.

Very different landscape to last time I was here, at the end of April 2002 - the lake is completely frozen and all the paths onto the bridge are through snow. Yes I may be a little obsessed by the snow, but the last time I saw any was in about 1978, and we don't ever get any in Melbourne or Sydney. Canberra sometimes, but I try to avoid going there. It started snowing while I was wandering around videoing, maybe I will go back and record the cables again to hear the seasonal differences in sound. Came into the city and met Juha and Ossi, went to Club Gloria to check out the tech requirements. It's fantastic, an old cinema with semi circular balcony and a great dance floor. saturday week is going to go off!!! There may or may not be a bridge on stage, but there will definitely be lots of cables twanging and popping and some atonal kantele (finnish zither) and cello, with live video manipulations.

Now I am compiling the sound for stockholm installation, to go with footage from anzac bridge and hopefully matinkaari in spring. Not today's footage, I messed up the white balance and don't think it will turn out that well. But hey, I'm a sound artist!

Leaving for Stockholm on the Silja ferry tomorrow afternoon, and have an interview with national swedish radio on friday morning. They are doing a theme of bridges this month, so that was perfect timing!

Must go now, my brain has melted.