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october 21, 2001
First day of the Sapporo workshop. After the 22 students
briefly introduced themselves to each other, we began
the first project right away. The first project was
the face drawing / mapping project, as it was in Tokyo
this year.
Also as in the Tokyo workshop, they did not show any
of their own work at the beginning of the workshop.
It seems to be the perfect way to begin making the point
of the experience a bit more obvious perhaps. Because
the point of the workshops is not to learn how to make
work like tomato, not to learn how to imitate their
style, but to find your own voice and style, to tune
in to your own process. In the context of the workshops,
you wonder how there could be any other way except your
own.
As is typically the case with the face drawing project,
everyone usually begins by drawing what they know,
what they think is expected of them to draw. But after
an entire day of this type of exploration, there is
always some breakthroughs. As Dirk put it, when people
are starting to have a real experience, not simply
doing what they think they should be doing. As the
day moved on and it got dark outside, no one turned
on the lights. The atmosphere got very intense and
it really felt like everyone was giving in to the
process.
The
point of the project? To let go and to relax. To
go somewhere you may not have been before by doing
something you probably don't do in your everyday
routine.
The feeling of this workshop is very different, of
course, than Tokyo. A little less than a third of
the people, and the majority are Japanese. The general
vibe of the first day was one of mediation and relaxation.
Perhaps this is because it is sapporo and not Tokyo,
maybe it is because it is a smaller group and there
is more time so the feeling that you need to hurry
and rush is not in the air.
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