TRAVEL DIARY

A weblog regularly updated by Jodi Rose.

Tuesday, June 1, 2004

6:21 PM
Posted by jodi rose

I'm finally coming back down to earth. Have been in the one place for over a week now, and am not quite sure what to do with myself. Suddenly time seems quite short, there is a lot to do in the next 6 weeks before my final studio booking to produce the radio broadcast.

Perth was fun, the experimental music night Club Zho, at the Hellenic Club in Northbridge was a stellar cast of artists and performers. The highlight definitely being 'new music karaoke', a hybrid of experimental compositions played to the classic kitsch karaoke video, brought out some stunning performances. The audience was filled with luminaries, from Stelarc, to Nigel Helyer, Alan Lamb and many others. Staying with Nigel was great, it became a mini sound art workshop, he is an excellent catalyst for getting out into the world and making work. He is working on a project called lifeboat for the ISEA cruise, Nellia was busy making the costumes, and I helped go through and identify political/ethical positions from a questionaire for the grid/map he's making up.

Then took the train and bus down to the deepest south WA for 6 hours, to Walpole. Walked in the treetops - the bridge is amazing, the whole structure is built to oscillate, so it sways and bounces, taking you out of the comfort zone. Talked with Geoff Warn, the architect of the walk, later that week and he told me that it was designed to feel like you do when climbing to the top of a tree. very cool.
Returned to Sydney, trying to get my life in order.

Unpacked a few more boxes in my room, which brought on existential angst about home and belonging, or the lack thereof. Am feeling particularly transient right now, and it's starting to get me down. At this age, it would be nice to have my own place, but then I look at the news and my life seems to be one of incredible privilege and safety. And it is, after all, my choice to run around making insane sound compositions with bridges, and not to lead a well-ordered, planned life where I have a mortgage and a steady job. Still, the complete lack of stability feels a little terrifying right now. I'm trying to have faith, and keep believing in the path that I have chosen, but it seems like an insane gamble at this point with no back-up plan. Success isn't even the point, I'm happy if I get to keep on making work and playing with different people, how it is received is nothing to do with me. It's one of those things, you just have to let go of your desire to be liked and appreciated and get lost in the work, then let it go once it's out in the world. You have no control over how any interprets or experiences it. Which is a damn good thing. Didactic artists are the worst, who want to dictate everything to you - I'm a big fan of multipile layers of meaning, and leaving space for the unexpected.

Speaking of which, my new fascination is with emotionally responsive computing. I'm working up a proposal combining that and the sonic GPS mapping that gives you audio information about the place you are in, so that you can walk around a city and have your own personalised experience of stories, information and context delivered to you via a mobile device. Hmmm, big new technology, love it!