Monday, October 17, 2011

France, Ruhr, Atlanta. or: "you are here"





France
one month ago, i came back from the French Alps and the Mediterranean Coast. back home, the new edition of the journal of creative geography waited for me. it's title, a moveable confirmation: you are here. the theme of the edition: Dislocation.

one of my images made it into the Dislocation. it's from another road trip to France - the photo itself is a mirrored moment from a Swiss Autobahn: Decision Point.

the edition also includes a collaborate work from the 2-layer-series with Steve Wing: Timespace Discontinuum. which fits with the special concept of the edition - the editors wrote: "The journal will not have a traditional “Table of Contents.” Rather, each selection will be placed in context with other selections, creating a sense of dislocation and renewed attention to the strange patterns of continuity that emerge from such juxtapositions."

it's a thought i like to keep, i think it also goes for journeys, the way they connect, and the places they lead to, in an unexpected and unplannable pattern of juxtaposition and thematic connections. like the one that is upcoming:

here and there
right now, i am at home, but tomorrow, i will pack a small bag for a short trip: to the Ruhrgebiet. it's a region i visited in March last year for the first time. this time, i will be there to visit the comic fair - and to do some live blogging from there for a comic website. but i also have an extra day, to explore the region a bit more, and visit the Ruhr museum, and an art museum - both rather new. i might try some juxtaposed live blogging again in this blog, too.

Ruhr
2 links that lead to the Ruhr Region: the first is from this blog, from my first trip: Ruhr Metropolis. and the other is from the first language/place carnival, from Kate Thorpe who at that point was exploring the metropolitan Ruhr region in Germany as part of a poetic Fulbright project. the images there are from a place that is similar to the one i plan to visit.

Atlanta
the second book, "I Am Here Right" is an e-book from Deckfight Press - i came across it last week, and read the first stories. it's availaible as PDF online, and about place, too: all stories are set in Atlanta. (where i've been to, once, but then, not for real: all i saw and been to was the transit area of the airport).

[update, 1 day later]
this is me in Y
the lines on being here / there made me remember the lines from a conversation that happened on London a while ago. here's the passage:

"The gap between reality and expectation – there’s this friend of mine, we met in London, and went to a place at the Thames riverside, and then crossed London Bridge. It was there, in the middle of the bridge, that my friend held in, and said: “This is me in London. .. This is me in London.”

She explained that it is her way of connecting to a place, of letting the realization of being there sink in. There is a second way to read this, of course: if we are somewhere else, in another environment, with other persons around, this also reflects on our personality, and brings out other aspects of ourselves - makes us someone slightly different."

here and there (or: links)
- the Atlanta e-book is featured in the blueprint book blog:  i am here, right
- the creative geography webpage is: you are here - the new edition isn't up yet
- the Ruhr place i plan to visit: Ruhr museum (with photo stream on the starting page)
- and another Ruhr link: Museum Folkwang
- the London lines are from a talk with Rose on stories, places, anticipation, reality

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