green concrete

Dwelling in grey London with black-black-black uniforms from a land of green has been startling. I hadn't anticipated such a sharp transition! Since I do a lot of walking here, I've been thinking much about the space between urban existence and where nature sneaks back in. Or, where a city stops and parks begin, sometimes infusing. §. I was trying to understand what was making me feel disquieted and disconnected. Beyond loneliness in a crowd or sometimes feeling unable to relate to people, I worked it out; hearing myself repetitively appreciative, and growing intensely aware of city green I was seeing. Here are some of the elements informing and entwining my thoughts lately.
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1. An early morning + a late night 
A few weeks ago I went to a breakfast panel at the Design Museum, where discussion reflected exhibition, "The Future Is Here". Assa Ashuach is somebody I've admired for a while and he was speaking! It was great to meet him ask about current projects. I also met some intense coding geniuses who watered down their conversation to explain additive and subtractive printing to me. It, ah, is what it sounds like. 

I wandered around the exhibition, watched a documentary from Sweeep Kuusakoski and their work, "nothing is too complicated to recycle", learnt about the processes of UK WRAP and sat in awe of Mo.Mo the molecule scanner! "Mo.Mo. is a concept for a wearable molecule scanner that lets you know you which of your old belongings have materials that could be transformed into something new. It works as part of a service that enables you to reinvent your possessions, rather than replace them."







On Saturday evening there was a midnight masterclass in film in Notting Hill with Colin MacCabe. It took me over an hour to get home on the bus, but was worth it! Colin MacCabe spoke on the relation of sound and image, with a particular focus on Jean-Luc Godard among other snippets of sequences and scenes. It was funny straining to see him in the half-light as he made a thoughtful presentation until close to one in the morning!!! "I've never felt so awake at half twelve at night!" When I finally stumbled out to the bus, it felt like a dream. 

As a friend pointed out, I've developed a weird way of finding "inconvenient" times to learn things!

2. Enough: breaking free from the world of more–John Naish 
Compelling thoughts from a freelance journo, considering the virtue of sufficiency in a world of over-consumption. I really wanted to read this and devoured it in one blurred grey weekend. (I was house-sitting alone and found the perfect bay window to stare up at trees and daydream between chapters.) Broken into seven sections, Naish campaigns for information, food, stuff, work, options, happiness and growth not to be made neccesarily 'less' but rethought of as being, you guessed it, enough. It got me thinking more about people like Carrie Parry, as well as cool projects like Phonebloks! (You can support Phonebloks here.)




Seriously though, if you're wondering what to read next, make it 'Enough'...awkward link to amazon haha.

3. The Tate Modern + Kenwood Park

Kenwood Park is beautiful; a reprisingly effective retreat from concrete living. I've particularly enjoyed the flower gardens–they remind me of my grandma. 

About a month ago, the Tate were showing two main exhibition galleries; Poetry + Dream and Energy + Process. I spent a slow afternoon examining both. 


"I want to see the landscape; as it is when I am not there." 



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