Daily Practice 3- Walking In and Out of Containment
Daily practice today felt a lot different. For the first time in this walking process, there were people sitting in the garden. Seeing people shifted my thought process. I was much more aware passing by people on loop and what they might be thinking about me.
I am rubbish at documenting. I keep forgetting and it feels wrong to the process to have finished, came inside and then run back down simply to document. I am sorry for this.
Land artist Richard long challenges conventional notions of what are should be. Circles have always been a key part of his work. In a BBC article he states “I can make a circle of words, I can make a circle of stones, I can make a circle of mud with my hands on a wall, I can walk in a circle for one hundred miles.”
These words helped me to sit in the uncomfortableness of looking a bit daft and refocus on what was important to me. I thought about why I am doing this as a daily practice, to notice new things and because prisoners the UK are entitled 30 mins- 1hour of outdoor time a day but in a contained space, behind walls. I began to take notice of all of the circular shapes I could see. Budding flowers, stones on the path, circles drawn in chalk. This then became an influence for my creative resource, clock in. Circles juxtapose the daily shapes prisoners see, and they felt like a rarity in my garden too. Harsh lines of concrete and brick made the circular shapes in my garden more subtle.
I haven’t forgotten about the people watching me. However instead of worrying, I notice them. I notice the different shapes that make up them. I greet them every lap with a smile.
Resources-
https://www.gov.uk/life-in-prison/prisoner-privileges-and-rights
