I spent one week on a residency on a small farm on Slovenia, at Rizoma. My goal for this residency was to build out the database back end for the MOO project.
I’ve had the idea for a while that it would be nice to work at a more human pace in a more natural environment. I was working with a computer and definitely on the power grid, but in a room without artificial lighting. I kept to daylight hours. I spent a lot of time outdoors. I went for a few walks, made a lot of field recordings and did a very small amount of farm labour. A consequence of working at this pace is that it’s slow. I did not finish the project I set out to do. Working at a more human pace means being more realistic about time estimates. I should have allowed two or three weeks.
I have in my life, spent weeks at a time living out of a tent, but this has generally been on bicycle trips. It’s somehow easier to stay in a tent if everything is packed up every morning. There is not only novelty, but things stay put away and don’t slowly creep out over every surface.
I spent several nights wishing I had my own tent, until one morning, one of the farm cats came to wake me up, by climbing under the rain fly and clawing me through the tent. My own tent would not have withstood claws any better and I would have been upset to get holes in it.
The site had a composting toilet and outdoor showers, one of which faced out over the valley below. That part of Slovenia is very hilly. The farm is right next to cliffs. The acoustics of the valley and the cliffs were dramatic. It was a lovely space.
However I was not fully prepared for the environment. Slovenia has a lot of ticks. My one previous experience with ticks gave me Lyme Disease, an experience I’m eager to not repeat. I need to bring long, light, loose trousers, longer socks and long sleeve shirts.
Overall, the experience was very positive.
The outcomes of this experience are:
- Good progress on the MOO back end.
- A greater awareness of what questions to ask when preparing.
- An understanding that the goals of greater productivity and human pacing are a dialectic. Which is to say, they are largely, but not wholly, in conflict with each other.
- Several field recordings – there will be a recording forthcoming.
- This set of reflections.