Norway Prep

I've just finished writing my risk assesment form for the event tomorrow at guides. Basically we are only making salt dough characters (from: The three billy goats gruff) and eating waffles but my risk assesment has made the task sound like mission imposible. Death is an option, but you would have to eat all of the salt dough you are given - oh and only if no one calls an ambulance.
The prep went well this evening though and it looks as if everything is 'salted' for tomorrow (ha ha ha- that is a reference to the salt dough) Should be fun, all i need to find now is a stamp in my room that symbolises Norway enough to put in the childrens passport. I think i only have Christmas theamed ones and a three goats book. I'm also taking my slr tomorrow, one of the senior section is a hotography student so i'm going to utilise her skills.
I have enjoyed the last couple of weeks of senior section- I think the senior section feel a little more familiar with me and on my part more regularity isn't a bad thing, i need to learn to communicate a little better and everything will be fine; i think its also helped that i have had an activity to do the last couple of weeks to keep us occupied. I'm going to have to start thinking about some new and interesting things to do with them.

Senior Section and a very crafty Norway

Next week there is a guiding event going on in our district to mark Thinking Day (For those of you that was ever in the Brownies, its that day where you light a tea light candle and think of different countries)- 100 brownies and rainbows are going to have a 'passport' and  travel around several countries, ran by the leaders/ senior section- each country has to have a craft based around their country, another idea around this event was to try and mix the groups a bit- so a little bit of cross generational teamwork. Our country is Norway, seemingly convenient after having gone to Norway, however the crafts that i found were extremely difficult to do. We spent about an hour trying to construct a paper weaved basket (maybe not the best idea for 5-10 year olds). In the end we came up with making Vaffels and whilst the kids are waiting to make them they can play with some salt dough (making some trolls, and idea from Ellie which i am very grateful for). Lots of preparation. I'm back to guides again on Tuesday to set up and make lots of Norwegian flags!

Meetings

I managed to get to Rainbows this evening- it was quite lucky, as the one of the leaders couldn't make it- the unit can only really run with two otherwise our ratios are out. I think there has to be 1 adult to every 5 children, which can be tricky, especially as everyone has to be CRB checked nowadays. When i was in Brownies, guides etc, the mums could just come and help out no problem- much easier, and there was never any cause for cancelling meetings because of staff shortage. It does make things a little difficult, especially as it is at an awkward time and it is a voluntary position, people just aren't able to volunteer anymore.
Anyway, rainbows was fun- we did some colouring in- which i was quite pleased about, although i didn't get to do one of my own; i was told by one of the rainbows that i had to help colour hers in- because it was going to be be a big job!
After Rainbows i quickly ran home for some dinner to then follow on to a District meeting to discuss plans, fundraising, that kind of thing, its a little sad though, because i know with college i just wont be able to go to half of these things; we did discuss doing something for Thinking Day, as it is a large guiding tradition. we all had to pick a country for our groups. I chose Norway off the top of my head for the senior section, presuming that i would know how to do a craft as such. Could be a little more difficult than i thought...
I was also supposed to be going back to London this evening, having a seminar tomorrow morning- but the meeting went on a little longer than expected- when i said that i needed to get home, i think i was misunderstood, there was a reply of "we all need to get home tonight"- i don't think that people have caught on that i don't live in Harold Wood anymore.

Nei Vei! After Norway.

Dear Child Have Many Names
29th July 6pm- 1st August

Jomfru gata 4

Trondheim, Norway

These are the details of the exhibition that Ellie is curating in Norway over the summer in a disused shop. The piece of work from Norway that Joe and I made to be put into the exhibition is the video piece made on the first day by the Fjord in the night of us exercising as Edwardian's. Unfortunately we wont be able to see it placed in the exhibition, but if anyone is around in Norway, drop by to have a look.

We have decided after our time in Norway to label all of the work that we have made as the 'Ni Vay' project which in Norwegian is directly translated into 'No Way'- of course the phrase isn't in the Norwegian dialect but we feel it suits the work and experience. We are undecided of where to take our work from here, but if we do exhibit in London, we have a lot to do so with.
For now though, I have to turn my focus to the Tate and thegalleryistalking, and The Ties that Bind.

Day 5: No performance, last performing day

Our last performing day today, Cricket players. We have just been over to play a spot of cricket- unfortunately we couldn't find any flat ground to play on so we had to make do with an abandoned car park, behind a bus stop. Every where that has grass is actually just one big hill. What we have found from playing cricket is that actually Joe and I are very unfit, I was first to bowl and after Joe had hit the ball once i was worn out. It is also very difficult to play with just two of you. It involves a lot of general running up and down, as we didn't bring any cricket gear with us either, we used a couple of old pieces of wood that we found for a bat and stumps- an original idea that for performances we would make all of our props while in Norway (Although up until now- the final performance day- we have not needed any props)
This has probably been our least obtrusive costume of the week, so i feel a lot more comfortable, especially after finding out about the Jante Law. We do look as if we have just been playing for a club, i suppose the cricket costume doesn't differ too much by country.
We have filmed a little of us playing cricket on super 8 film- watching it back should be amusing, it will probably just be a lot of breathlessness. I also did a small performance piece this morning down by the Fjord that we filmed both on super 8 and digital, so i have watched it back already. It involved walking slowly down into the Fjord in my Edwardian under garments, slowly walking in so i disappear under the water. It seemed somewhat graceful in my mind but the realisation was quite different. The performance came from the idea that Edwardian Lady's used to swim pretty much fully clothed after being assisted into the water in a changing room of sorts. This is a performance that i wanted to do when we were Edwardian, but as it was so late it wasn't such a good idea.
The experience of walking into the water was something that i have never felt before- it was so extremely cold. Up to my waist wasn't such a problem but as my arms entered the water and it raised towards my chest i felt as if i couldn't breathe any more- I  was screaming, but there wasn't any sound coming out. I did manage to walk in as far to cover my entire head but as soon as my head was under i felt as if i was about to pass out and swam straight out. Looking back at the footage, i look like i am in pain, its not graceful, and what i felt took ages to walk all the way in was less than two minutes. My head was in and out within seconds.
To top this all off, there was the painful image in the background, of a Norwegian family- the children jumping in and out and swimming in the fjord.
Silly tourist.

Day 4: No Performance

Last night we went out to meet a couple more of Ellie's friends, got some food etc. Despite the lack of veggie options, we had a fun and interesting night.  I suppose the main thing to mention however were the conversations we had about English stereotypes. After showing the people we met some of the work that we had been making, explaining why we were doing it, we got some fantastic conversations about what British people were about. Mainly the conversation involved tea. Twinings in particular. We have some brilliant footage of posh English accents.

Anyway, today we went on an excursion to a little island by ferry which has a monastery built on it. Of course, now its only for tourism purposes, but it was pretty much untouched which was good, again, like most of the surroundings in Trondheim, beautifully picturesque.  We have been performing as 'aristocracy' today- the hunter farmer type that you would see in big inherited mansions. It was somewhat like we had traveled by boat to conquer another land. There is a little cafe on the island that again sold mainly meat- but we had some more waffles and a good old cuppa Rosie (that would be a 'Cup of Tea' for those of you confused by my cut in with cockney dialect). This inspired Joe to make a little spontaneous performance to teach the locals how to make a cup  of tea via self help video. It's very patronising and funny, but Joe did an astounding job of keeping a straight face throughout.

I have spent most of my day reading 'Magesty magazine' a magazine that you can buy at most airports and main railway stations in England but probably no-where else. Leading tourists into the presumption that the majority of English people are concerned about what the Royal Family are doing. However, quite relevantly there was a large section in the magazine about the royal visit to Norway that happened a couple of weeks ago. All i can say is that the Norwegian royal family are far more attractive than ours, but saying that, Princess Anne's hair is amazing. I modelled mine on hers today.

Day 3: No Performance

Today we bravely risked 'The Chav' performance, i managed to make my outfit out of clothes i had in my wardrobe from that ambiguous teenage time of my life- I think Joe had to try harder with his costume- but he did very well. Very convincing. Again we went down to the Fjord, walking down a massive hill in massive heels is a challenge, and i think as soon as you are wearing the baggy clothes/ baseball caps its difficult not to walk with an odd limp and a shifty stare. The surroundings however, made us look totally harmless.

Which reminds me- yesterday we had an amusing moment when we met a friend of Ellie's - she pointed us out as the people from England that were dressing up. Having heard form a friend, and apparently she had seen us with the Italian tourists and thought that we may have been with them. Obviously, our main look as an Edwardian was 'tourist' which is fair enough really.

We posed today next to a boat we had found on the fjord- It had 'sea c**t' spray painted on the side. A lucky find for our costumes but an unfortunate scene for us tourists on holiday. We mainly shied away in our outfits today, whilst hanging around not doing a lot. I suppose our image of a chav really. I suppose in the same way it meant that we weren't seen by any of the locals- probably the one day this week where we ironically haven't broken the Jante Law.

Day 2: No performance

We dressed as Country Bumkins today, i attempted to plait my hair on both sides, but failed miserably. Joe suprisingly suits this one but i have felt very insecure wearing my costume- anyway, today we have been into town again, this time to visit the royal familys royal house, suprisingly it is on the main high street, opposite a Burger King. We are aware of the fact that they don't often stay in Trondhiem, but security is so lax that we have been able to walk right up to the front door to pose in our costumes.
We also tasted an 'Ice boat' today. very tasty.
Elinor also broke the news to us about the scandanavien 'unspoken' law, that involves not dressing or making yourself stand out in public in anyway, which makes us feel even more like tourists than we expected, however the same law also mentions that you should not judge others- which explains why nobody has really said anything. It makes the act of performing in Norway more interesting though- hopefully we can talk to some people over the next couple of days to see how they feel personaly about looking differently. Does this law still have claught? and if so, do we as toursts have a get out clause because we are not part of the culture?



Jante Law:

(for more info, follow: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jante_Law)
There are ten different rules in the law as defined by Sandemose, but they all express variations on a single theme and are usually referred to as a homogeneous unit: Don't think you're anyone special or that you're better than us.
The ten rules state:

1. Don't think you're anything special.
2. Don't think you're as much as us.
3. Don't think you're wiser than us.
4. Don't convince yourself that you're better than us.
5. Don't think you know more than us.
6. Don't think you are more than us.
7. Don't think you are good at anything.
8. Don't laugh at us.
9. Don't think anyone cares about you.
10. Don't think you can teach us anything.

An eleventh rule recognized in the novel is:
11. Don't think there's anything we don't know about you.
In the book, those Janters who transgress this unwritten 'law' are regarded with suspicion and some hostility, as it goes against communal desire in the town to preserve social stability and uniformity.

Day 2: No performance: Joe's video diary

 

Day 1: No Performance in Norway

Yesterday was our first performance day in Norway. It started with an Edwardian tour around Trondheim, we have seen 'the main' tourist attraction in Trondheim, a cycle lift up a steep hill- while we were there we actually managed to run into a very large group of Italian tourists also looking at the lift. I cant say that this has confirmed that the cycle lift has the most visitors out of all those that come to Norway, but we did not see another group like this anywhere else in the city and the cycle lift was closed due to maintenance.
Obviously we had been dressed as Edwardian's all day, it hasn't gone un-noticed on our tour, although nobody has said anything, other than, that really suits you.
We also tasted 'brunost' which is a brown Norwegian cheese and had waffles with sour cream and jam. The waffles were very tasty.
I think the main event for us yesterday was staying up very late to witness the sunset and sunrise without it going out of view at about 3am it was as light as day. This is when we made our first piece of work, by the fjord, an adaptation of what we 'believe' Edwardians would do if they had encountered the fjord as we had, of course in true stereotype fashion.

thegalleryistalking- getting ready for the launch

I'm slightly apprehensive about the launch of thegalleryistalking (A project raising issues around dyslexia and the gallery space between Tate Britain and Chelsea College of Art and Design BA Fine Art) there are many maps to be made and things to arrange. I am starting to feel as if i have taken a little too much on. I have also recently found out that not only will i have to be at the Tate Britain as early in the morning as i can but i also have an important rehearsal to attend with AgeExchange on the same date, from 10am until 4pm, and as i am only getting back from Norway on the Wednesday before, I'm a bit concerned about when i will have time to eat sleep and live from Thursday until the end of Saturday. O dear.

Nolga Nolga!

As Joe and I (The 'No' collective) prepare for our vacation to Norway, we wonder on the stereotype of a Norwegian. What to expect when we get there, and what we have learned about Norway from our very good friend Ellie with whom we are to stay with (We have learned very little, other than some choice phrases).
On wondering this, we also wonder what Norwegians expect of the English when they visit here, or indeed when we visit Norway. We are a very ambiguous nation.
When we think of Norway, it is quite difficult to place an image of what a Norwegian looks like or behaves like, I think the closest i can think of is that Swedish people are stereotypically blond and live in houses like ikea, however that is not Norway. There are beautiful natural landforms in Norway, i learned that in A level geography, however i can think of a single time in schooling that i have learned about the Norwegian culture.
Thus the aim to go and 'learn' about Norway, while at the same time 'teaching' our own stereotypes. Everyday we are in Norway we will dress and act (to the best of our ability) as an English stereotype, produce artwork as that stereotype, and talk to people about what we are doing.
We have chosen our stereotypes, they will be: Chav, Cricketers, English Gentry (Hunter type), Country Bumkin and Edwardian.
This of course was a difficult decision to make, however we feel as if we have the most diverse stereotypes as possible.