On Football, Nationalism and Identity Crisis

In anticipation of the football world cup, the Lebanese show their sympathy towards the German national team. The amount of German flags hanging in our neighbourhood is increasing and slowly causes discomfort.

yesterday i felt like i’ve never been here, today like i’ve never been there.

…see more here

オランダ留学時代に出会い、現地で一緒に暮らしたこともある友人、宮沢さおりさんが、昨年から家族と一緒に佐渡島に住んでいます。その彼女がベルギー人のパートナー、アルノ ムールマンと共にacci-cocciというスペースを１月１6日にオープンしました。

もともと身体表現を専門とする彼女と、空間や映像を扱うアーティストである彼は、ブリュッセル→倉敷→佐渡島と移動しながら、様々なコラボレーションを 行ってきました。acci-cocciは、２人の実験の場であると同時に、あっちこっちを繋げて発信する面白い場所になりそうです。
そんなacci-cocciのオープンのお祝いに駆けつけたいところでしたが、残念ながら叶わないので、オープニングでベルギーワッフルを焼くというアルノに、かっぽう着を贈りました。なかなか様になっています！

できれば、2010年中に「かっぽう着展 in 佐渡」を叶えたいと思います。

ちなみに、ヨガの講師もつとめる友人はスペースの隣のオーシャンビュー（！）の部屋でヨガ教室をやっています。今年の佐渡行きの夢が叶ったら、そちらにも是非参加してみたいと思っています。

- cross-posted from hibi_tan | 2010-01-19 00:12

it starts out as almost inaudible. actually, it’s not even a sound at all, more of a sensation or suspicion. very minuscule but you know exactly what it is. even so, you have some time to bide. the distortions have yet to make their presence felt.
the frequencies change. the quiet rustling becomes a deafening roar. time comes into focus and the need to adjust becomes apparent. ignoring this sensation only prolongs the irritable. . . .
alter, adjust, adapt, amend, modify, revise, refine, redesign, rework, reorder, vary, transform, transfigure, transmute, metamorphose, and evolve.

The weekends were less exciting to him than were the weekdays.  On Saturdays and Sundays, a hollow feeling washed over him and he struggled to make it through those days.  Time was spent with the T.V. filling his musty wood-paneled apartment with welcoming sounds, going to the Men’s Club and sitting there alone while the rest of the men were with their families, and going through the weekend paper, methodically.  At night he would warm up some old pasta from the night before and check/recheck his lotto tickets while still allowing that T.V. to add some dialogue into the apartment.

Weekdays however, were different.  He had a routine that he really enjoyed and with this being Monday, he had five amusing days in front of him.  Getting out of his apartment and heading over to the Club was his first priority.  At around 8am, the first wave of straphangers would make their way to the subway and this was the first of two highlights of his day.  Born and raised in this neighborhood and having left only once, for the war, he had seen the dramatic change to the neighborhood occur right before him.  Today’s commuters were composed of twenty and thirty somethings who had little regard for tradition.  They seemed to be slightly unconscious to their immediate surroundings…which he found curious.  What were they constantly entertaining that made them seemingly exist outside of the present?  Life seemed a little overwhelming to the younger generation he thought.  Their distracted faces, the way they dressed, the young couples, this all kept him in a stupor until about 10:30am when the parade subsided.

Midday was mostly spent at the Club eating lunch, going over neighborhood gossip, watching t.v., and playing either pinochle or breaking out the cribbage board.  Recently though, he felt the need to slip home and try to grab a few hours sleep.  Nights had turned into restless endeavours and at his age, sleep was a necessity.

However, once 5:30pm came around, his favorite morning routine started its second act.  He tried his hardest to read their faces, seeing if he could decipher those expressions to come up with certain conclusions about their day.  He thought about all the meanings of the word “communication”.  He was never mistaken as a poet and this form of interaction suited him just fine.  Eventually, the procession from the subway to the various apartments came to a slow trickle.

On this night, as the dark clouds started their march over the neighborhood, and everybody made their way home for dinner, he thought it would be a good idea to head to the deli and pick up a few Lucky 5 scratch-offs for the long night ahead of him.

on projection at 玩世不恭文化交流BBQ a cynical cultural exchange barbecue, 家作坊HomeShop Beijing, 11 July 2009

(video courtesy of members of the Beijing Chaoyang Church)

謝謝媽媽