I came to Gothenburg planning to create one final piece for my exhibition, a piece for the "Outerland" part of the show. The plan was to walk and observe and then respond so I did what I always do: I settled into my room and began walking. I observed and took photos, paying close attention to what was catching my interest. I noticed patterns in the things I was attracted to and I made note of the new things that gave me pause. I did a little writing and a tiny bit of drawing. I even bought materials…but then I couldn't finish, or rather, I couldn't start. I didn't have enough time or energy.
I forgot how hard jet lag is on me. The first few days I was exhausted and I had a hard time focusing and making decisions. When I started to feel more "normal" it was time to prepare the exhibition, finish my artist statement and put the final touches on my lecture for HDK. I did try to work with my materials, writing and sketches, but nothing happened. In the end, I made the difficult choice to not make the piece. I think if I had arrived in Gothenburg well-rested I could have done it in such a short period of time, but exhaustion really got in my way.
All in all, this was a good learning experience for me. I tend to think I can do anything and I also tend to forget about being human. Next time I will factor in jet lag and perhaps have a more realistic expectation. I'm ok with not making the piece, although at first I was disappointed. Then I thought about the show as it was and it felt so good…and I knew it was ok to not make one more thing.
I added a few final pictures of Gothenburg to Facebook or you can visit Flickr to see the entire collection.
Thanks for reading.
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