Campos de Gutierrez/Medellin - Bogota

after checking where i had got to in my last post, i can continue... so from the 2nd march until the 10th work commenced on a couple of possible new methods of playing sounds in a live context, or maybe an installation. the main idea is nothing new - sound being played through resonant objects - but i also tried to fabricate a directional speaker using a huge beer can that held 8 smaller cans, lots of corrugated cardboard and a dayton sound exciter (a speaker driver that allows you to play sound/music through a solid object or surface).
oh, and also on the 3rd we were invited to the space where we were going to exhibit for a party. this was a fundraiser for a group of artists who needed to raise money to go to costa rica, and it worked! they had quite a crowd and a really great band. needless to say, my britishness came to the fore and i was unable to dance at all, even when drinking heavily! the trouble is colombians are just born dnacers - i was unable to even try as i would have looked like the flailing uncle at a wedding even if i could dance, and those of you who know me know i can't!! ah well, i met some lovely people anyway!

back to the subject - sounds were gathered for a few days at campos de gutierrez, and also continuing experiments with the sound exciters, playing 'wooden' sounds through the body of an old guitar and 'metallic' sounds through another beer can, although this was to be replaced with an oil drum i had spied at plazarte (the exhibition space). the homework paid off - once i got to the space to install on the friday, everything went according to plan. the two objects and the house speaker system were all i needed to play a multi-channel piece on the opening night. i also had plans for a small brass bell and violin bow - more later...

on thursday a young artist called miguel izasa from medellin visited us (well, me) at campos de gutierrez, and for someone so young, he's really focused and knows exactly what he's doing with sound and recording... we spent the afternoon walking up the mountain to the village of santa elena, recording when possible, but mainly chatting about sound/music/art/etc.

saturday came around and things came together on that day, with some of the artists working through the night on their installations. and the main thing was that some grass that an artist called chris wolston had ordered turned up and was installed in one of the open squares in the space. the down side of this was, as the grass was being installed, the door remained open and someone got access to the building and stole my buddy alejandro's computer (with all of his residency work on it) and projector. :-(
an absolute shame and it really couldn't have happened to a nicer guy... after fruitless attempts at tracking down the thieves, and much soul searching, he went ahead with his show, which was great.
also on saturday, david velez from bogota came to perform. he decided to play in a duo with miguel and their performance was pretty great, although affected by loud chatter and the sub-standard speaker system. they were set up by the bar and i asked the bar to be closed during performances but there was no stopping it!

i practically begged the organisers to close the bar for my performance, knowing it was going to be a lot quieter than david and miguel's, and thankfully they did. there was still chatter from other parts of the building, but in the square, the audience were really great, respectful and attentive. it may have helped that i moved around the audience with various objects, crunching a huge dry leaf to being with and bowing the bell i mentioned earlier - i have tried methods like this before but have felt like i was going through the motions, and just replicating actions of friends such as john grzinich and max shentelev, but this time i really felt it was part of the piece and needed the interaction. i even had some guy dancing (expressively of course) throughout, which definitely added an extra dimension!

after the performances, etc. david and i, and luke and elizabeth clark, decided to head back to campos and get some sleep. we stopped on the way back for some food and left all our stuff (computers and all) in the taxi while we ate. i don't even know if i'd do that in bristol!! no sad ending to the story there though, all was good.

and the sunday was pretty much taken up with david and i walking around medellin (centro and poblada) eating and drinking beer! we went back to plazarte and they gave us even more beer! it was a great day!! and fresh trout for tea, bought from one of the neighbours on via santa elena.

monday i went back to plazarte once again to record the guitar and the oil drum resonating with the various sounds i used in the performance, with a view to recomposing the piece to include these, and then was met by a young lady i actually met on the previous friday, who was doing make up for a fashion shoot that was being held in plazarte too. we went to poblado for lunch (a chicken curry for me) and then took the metro to visit the metrocable, when i suddenly felt really faint, had really bad stomach cramps and apparently went completely green! we got off a few stops before our destination and i had to sit for around 15 minutes before i could even face standing up again. juliana suggested i went back to her place to lie down (try to remember, i'm sick here people!) so after another gruelling metro ride back to where she'd parked the car, she then drove us to her place, which is up out fo the city, and also in a high rise - amazing views!
thank you once again juliana for nursing me!

after not much sleep that night through constant visits to the smallest room, i felt a little better by morning. this ebbed and flowed all day, and although i managed to eat a little rice in the evening, still felt pretty rough.

and guess what? i had to fly to bogota on wednesday! so i took as many pills as i could - although feeling much better than on monday, i still knew i was sick - and the climb from campos de gutierrez to via santa elena had never been so hard! but i managed to make it, with alejandro's help, and he also assisted in getting a taxi to the airport.
the journey went without mishap(!) and i think i even slept a little although the journey is only 50 minutes or so.

in bogota i caught a taxi from the airport to the area i'm staying in, la candelaria, which is pretty touristy but also quite nice - and i had to help him find the place! i had to ask at another hostel - in my bad spanish - as he just didn't have a clue! anyway, i'm here now. i took it very easy yesterday, still feeling weak - lack of food mainly, but the altitude doesn't help.

today i took a wander around downtown, passed by some places i recognised from being here last year and ended up at el museo de arte del banco de la republica, which is an amazing building with some good artworks - no sound pieces though and i think some of the rooms would really benefit from it! then headed to the university for 5pm where i met up with david once again and camilo rojas to rehearse for our show tomorrow - and after 4 hours there moving speakers around etc. we did rehearse... it's going to be a good show tomorrow!