Piecing Land

A continuing theme in my work and this blog is how people piece land. There is a notable difference in Spain, lacking the suburban sprawl and having centrally focused cities. I am going to attempt to use this palette and make a giant piece, interactive by allowing viewers to walk on it, showing the difference in land here compared to what we are used to. The difference in perspective will illustrate the removal we experience from the towns as an outsider behind a map.

Tapestries

Fibers of course is always a three dimensional object but raised stitching to this degree is something I have not considered. I am excited to explore it further in my upcoming piece when I build the cities.

Holy Toledo!

Our day began cold and rainy walking for 20 minutes up hill and over 7 flights of stairs to enter Toledo. We came to an unassuming cathedral that was simply breathtaking once we entered. It was giant with room after room of sculpture, tapestries, gilded sculptures and frescos. I have never been speechless in my life until that moment. After hours in the cathedral we wandered the streets in search of food and synagogues. The phrase "Holy Toledo!" comes from this city because of the wealth of religious buildings in such a small area. This small walled city has been a highlight of the trip.

Buscar tres pies al gato

There are always those phrases that don't quite translate. After being yelled at by our cooking teacher we learned this means we are always looking for the problem, being difficult. Apparently, in Spain even if you are sick you still share plates.

Nosotros estamos en periodico!

Monotype Printmaking

Our studio time begins with a series of demo, bookbinding, printmaking, pinhole cameras and watercolors. I was thrilled to begin with bookbinding as that is something I enjoy and feel very confidant in. I have an elaborate book in process that has inner boards for cribbage and a hollow second half of the book to store the cards and pegs. Cribbage is something I have become increasingly obsessed with over the past year. I love the formality of the rules and game play. It is very clearly a British game as my friends complain.

These books are to be used to document our time in Spain in some manner. I was drawn to creating a book that has half the space for the writing and the other half consumed by a game. Travel games are something you grow up with trying to entertain yourself in the car. Travelling as an adult I find myself doing similar things for distraction. This lost travel time is what we are trying to log. I am working on an artist statement to put in the beginning of my book that I will share later with photos.

Our second demo is making monotypes. I have never done printmaking so this was all very intimidating. I do not enjoy drawing or painting so I expected an immediate distaste for it. As I told my professor, I was pleasantly surprised at what I could do feeling so limited by my drawing abilities.

This trip requires a final project that may begin at any time. Most students will be beginning after our trip to Bilbao but I find myself needing much more time. My initial interest in this trip was to continue my work and thoughts about maps, how people piece land and maybe even our notions of home. I am in the initial sketches of the project and that same theme came out in my printmaking. There might need to be more so I can experiment sewing on them. I also might try using watercolors to transform these maps to resemble all the incredible stained glass we have been seeing.

Straight-up mean muggin'

There are always rumors of what a city will be like and how their people will treat you. I have heard countless times that France is rude and Spain is welcoming. I am not sure if it is the weather, my clothes, being female, being young or any long list of things but I have had a very surprising experience of aggression.

My first interactions in Madrid were stares. It was a look from bottom to top, very blatant and felt judgmental. I came to notice this look was universal to both foreigners and natives. Fashion here is impeccable, even the children leading me to believe that might be part of "the look." After a Seattle standard of Northface jackets and barefoot shoes it is clear our standards are much lower. Today my off white and black polka dot trench coat did not exactly go with the blue and yellow dress I had underneath. Everyone noticed on my way to school as if I had left the house in only bloomers.

This stare carries over to the necessity of holding your ground when crossing the street. I still do not know if cars or people have the right of way. The past week I have had mixed experiences until today I realized you have to be bold. I followed suit of a few Spaniards, crossing when it was our turn but being firm about not letting a right turning car go. The cars will speed down the road past crosswalks making it impossible to cross for a few minutes. The answer is to walk out and not let the cars intimidate you. Of course I never thought to try this as holding your ground infront of a speeding car is terrifying. The cars will go fast as they can and as close to you as possible. If you hurry up scared, they are even more aggressive. You need to hold your place and make eye contact. I am not sure if this is something I can ever get used to.

When in stores and walking on the sidewalk the people act the same way. There is no order to where they go, no etiquette of letting someone go first or thinking ahead to make the path easiest for both people. You can be run off the sidewalk by a party walking four across and not budging. You have to weave in and out at the grocery store as people scatter about like a dropped bag of marbles. There is a reoccurring theme of boldly holding your space in this world as well as strong emotional stature.

Wait... we are in Spain right?

No that is not Celsius (we would be melting). Leon has weather disappointingly like Seattle. We all have been freezing as we packed expecting 60s-70s and sunny as we experienced for a few days in Madrid. It should be warming up in the next few weeks but for now the Spaniards are wearing puffy jackets and elaborate furs. No wonder they stare at us in our spring trench coats... silly Americans!

Plaza de Toros

A bullfight consists of three matadors and six bulls, with each matador accompanied by two assistants. Stature determines the order of the fights, alternating throughout. The assistants have wooden boards around the ring to hide behind as the agitate the bull. Their job is to goad the bull to determine it's quality. The crowd shouts if they think the bull is not good enough and a new one is brought out. During our fight there were some very passionate older men routing for new bulls to no avail.

The seats are small concrete rows so close together you are touching people on all sides of you. The audience was filled with men in three piece suits smoking cigars. I found it reminiscent of how people behave at a polo match, a level of sophistication from the spectators as well as the matadors.

The matadors lead the toros around them with a red cape and the most skilled matadors do not let the cape touch the ground. They tired the bull until the final kill shot. There is an irrefutable stigma to bull fighting that I myself had before attending. The class decided to go on our free time and it seemed like a Spain experience I really shouldn't miss. Though it was incredibly difficult to watch in the beginning, as time went on you started to notice the nuances of the show. The costumes and etiquette helped clear the confusion of this being simply slaughter. A man next to us happily narrated the fight showing us the difference of the bulls in our program. They are raised for fights and have a lineage mapped out for the viewers. The matador was considered most successful the faster the bull died after his kill shot. This alone brought a little light of humanity that I had not expected.

I find it really fascinating how quickly your opinions can be altered, especially in this situation, just from experience. I do not think I could say I would go again or give rave reviews but I do appreciate it for the dying art it is.

City Roads

It is only natural that I have been drawn to pieces of vast landscapes on this trip. The flight over is always my favorite. I anticipate flying and the chance to see chunks of land from above; watching the geographic shapes morph as we pass over water and mountains. It is amazing how different Spain was once we crossed the border. The expanses of suburbs between cities disappeared leaving small groupings of red roofs; community expressed so clearly through city planning. All towns centered around a plaza with streets like the spokes of a wheel, expressing the culture’s focus on families and community. What a big difference when compared with Seattle’s parallel grids that are constantly competing with the natural geography. The “Seattle Freeze” takes shape in the streets dividing me physically and emotionally while Madrid has drawn me in to explore the depths of the city.

Paintings by Francisco Goya The Half-Drowned Dog and Antonio Lopez Madrid visto desde el Carro del Tio Pio