point of position / travel in thoughts
mobile phone screenshots, text, performance
work in progress, 2022
realised at artist residency
at Atelier Josepha
Exercise
to travel in thoughts
(or to write a text about writing a text about
the experience of encountering an oak tree)
I sit in the kitchen
preparing myself to travel in thoughts
from my red table
to the oak tree
in the very right corner of the garden
that surrounds the house I currently live in.
I have observed the oak many times from this spot
through the wide window front of the kitchen.
At various times of the day
in various light conditions.
Behind the tree I can see a sunburnt field
and behind that the water at the horizon.
To be honest, I kept postponing my encounter with it,
respectfully, or rather doubtfully, how to approach an oak
a sacred tree
connected to legends, stories and myths
used and misused for representation of men.
But those are merely excuses –
so now, in the morning of this early autumn day
my travel in thoughts begins.
I imagine
getting up from my chair,
stepping out of the door onto the lawn.
I would feel the cold, fresh air
hear birds and the wind.
I would look to the tree in the corner of the garden
Who is not alone:
It is last in a row next to another oak, a maple tree, two beeches, another oak tree.
I would walk slightly uphill
Approximately fifty small steps
Through grass, moss, fallen leaves and acorns.
And I know, I would feel somewhat uneasy
So close to the trunk
Under those wide branches
and their dark, cool and moist environment.
I would realise that not only the lower part is covered by flowering ivy
But also that it is crawling high up to the top.
I would remember that once I had read that ivy partners up with trees
in providing extra food and shelter for animals.
I would wonder about who had planted the oak and when?
Even if I wanted to I would not be able to embrace the trunk,
neither could I estimate the height or age of the tree.
I would hear a vibrant humming
of busy insects, and smell something sweet.
Every now and then an acorn would fall down,
and I would be startled for a moment.
I would notice that the dark green leaves are very still –
And after a while,
I would go back to my desk and write down
my experience of the encounter with an oak tree.