laura-apexart

[laura-apexart]

Day 30 8.6.23 

Marthin picks me up around 10 ish in an Uber with his friend Paola, we go to Alejandro’s apt because he is another friend of M’s and has a car and will drive us up the mountain to the much anticipated trip to Paramo de oceta —-“which means an ecosystem above the continuous forest line yet below the permanent snow-line” 

Every day I look at the mountains outside the windows which make up the eastern facing walls of my airbnb. I want to know what it’s like to be inside of the mountain. Now, on the last full day, I will.

It’s misty and rainy and the ground is incredibly wet and slippery and what starts out as black mud and dirt quickly shifts to brown wet clay, then gray, then yellow. The sound shifts too with the squirts in texture -I think of Alejandra in her studio throwing pots and mugs and also the famous brick library built in the shape of a snail—Biblioteca Pública Virgilio Barco—I visited the day before, same architect as Marthin's apt. A mountain and city made of clay.

The environment is otherworldly with the thick mist and filled with lichen and Espeletia, or Frailejon plants which is a type of perennial subshrubs (reminds me of a large pineapple) they are often called “big monks” because they form in clusters and the silhouettes look like cloaked friers on their way to mass—I am very intrigued by this reference because it plays into my interest in natural history and human’s eco-centrism, desire to domesticate the natural world. 

The plants have hairy leaves which help them trap water and the center is hollow–to hold all the water. They take forever to grow. They have beautiful yellow flowers. There are also these spiky silver looking succulent like plants that grow from the center outward as well as lots of tiny little purple and red flowers and orange barked wire like trees.

The whole hike is supposed to take about 2 hours, we take about 4 because there is an incredible waterfall to swim in (I hold back because I am already cold and know getting completely wet will put me over the edge) and also because we are taking our time, and taking pictures and there is so much clay and mud so we have to be careful with our footing. After we finish we sit in the pick-nick area and we eat bone broth soup and arepas and sugarcane tea with cheese. We drive back to P’s house for a coffee and then home. A full day.

[laura-apexart]

Day 29 8.5.23

I showed up at the National University Art Museum to Plant trees as part of an initiative lead by SANAUTOS, the Director of Cultural Heritage and the UNAL Environmental Management Office –”committed to generating an environmental impact” on the university's campus and to reducing the Carbon footprint and help support, feed and conserve the other species inhabiting the campus  but it  was unfortunately not happening —(which was confirmed by a security guard)--the gates around the museum were locked but I could see where the planting would take place inside the courtyard–all the potted trees and fertile soil and was kinda bummed because I was looking forward to putting my hands in the dirt and being outside so I went to Simon Bolivar park which was on my to do list and really fun because it was huge and full of life of all the different events taking place–I watched teens compete in an obstacle course that was set up like a game show and got emotional watching a young women try multiple times before giving up--I tried to imagine what it would be like for me to compete in this way--would I drop out or keep on trying until the sun went down? Then I went to the library by the park, build by Rogelio Salmona– who also built Marthin's home and uses all bricks made in Colombia with local materials. his architecture is known to be circular and symmetrical and spiraling like a snail and low to the ground and so pleasing to move through and It would be an amazing space to stage a contemporary dance piece.  The library also has a beautiful park around it and in one of the grassy areas there was a LARPing game taking place so I sat on a bench and watched for a while–there was also a fashion shoot in the center of the promenade with a women who had a long Colombian flag attached to her skirt, like a vail flowing behind and blowing in the wind–I liked the juxtaposition between the people with their cardboard swords and shields play fighting and the beauty queen with her billowing flag.  

In the evening I went to a Sound performance at Bogota Museum which took place in the courtyard filled with light up plants. Sounds like rocks moving against the ocean floor with birds chirping in a rainforest and insects flying around and they passed around empty pill bottles with strings attached that you could swing around very fast to create different subtle sounds, new insects.

Because we were going on a hike and was going to wake up early I decided not to go to a rock concert-seemed like a dark bar and I was too exhausted to venture out to another unknown neighborhood. 

[laura-apexart]

Day 28  8.4

The MAMBO museum 

Very heavy series of exhibitions by Colombian-born performance artists Rosemberg Sandoval (b.1959 Cartago) influenced by Theater of Cruelty and the social and political climate and history of Colombia–”poverty, guerrilla warfare, drug trafficking and common crime.” Video, performance, photo, sculpture–much of his work involved using his own body as a tool to enact violence on–self flagellation as a mode of expelling violent thoughts– 

The work was so incredibly visceral and upsetting/ disturbing, powerful? Sensational. Now much of  it would be illegal because in some of his performances he was working with human remains –a severed tongue to write messages of the condemned and silenced, hair of women and children who were raped and murdered, intestines of recently murdered –Hard to look at–What was so interesting to me was seeing the many school groups visiting and getting tours -aking myself–would school groups (they looked like 7-9th graders) be shown this work in the US given the current climate of hyper sensitivity, and sensorship in general  (mental health crisis among teens—there were piece’s explicitly about different ways to commit suicide)---made me curious about the training the museum educators received–wanting more of that training or engagement myself, but also the difference in cultures between Colombia and the US and the different ways we deal with violence and corruption and atrocities–ubove ground or below ground and the students seemed squeamish and a bit uncomfortable (maybe I am projecting here?) but also supported by the  context they were being given--the educators situating the work and using it as an opportunity to look honestly at one aspect of the countries history. 

Feeling exhausted and oversaturated but still went to Casa de la Moneda: History of Money Museum which opened in 2019–a  museum exploring the different historical, social and cultural uses of money throughout Colombia’s history–focusing on various perspectives–interesting to see the shift of value from natural objects–shells, shells made into beads, to agricultural–corn, to gold–metals–then made into coins made into bills —And the very large machines that helped print and produce the currency. Didn’t have the full capacity to engage with all the players involved—but this museum was attached to the Botero museum and the MAMU museum and it seems the bank of the Republic of Bogota owns the whole complex. 

Then back to the public cinema to see a video installation by the London based experimental filmmaker Ben Rivers. Post apocalyptic scenarios piecing together staged filmed footage as well as documentary footage post disasters–tornadoes and hurricanes as well as stagings of mythologies like the story of the minotaur and labyrinth which he filmed with children within labyrinth architecture (not sure where it  was filmed) and to  get to the actual installation I myself had to turn a series of corners to walk through a labyrinth like structure. The color and quality of  the footage was gorgeous–16 mm, projected  . There were many different small screening rooms with projections–one just focused on a sloth–which gave me permission to sit and rest and focus on this creature and its incredibly slow movements. 

In the evening, I went to a pole dancing class but it ended up being more of an Aerial dance class with hot pink spandex fabric like massive ribbons  suspended from the ceiling -we were taught a series of ways to wrap the fabric around our bodies or make knots so we could climb up it and flip and swing. It required a significant amount of upper body strength (which I still don’t have much of) as well as trust and letting go, physically balancing–weight/counter balance–letting the fabric suspend and hold you–and once I did lift off the ground and swing and let myself be suspended it was super exhilarating. The instructor was patient and really technically skilled and wonderful at breaking things down into steps, gentle energy. 

The pole dancing was happening in the same space and for the first 20 minutes of the class I thought we were just warming up with the suspended spandex then I thought oh this is the class, before you can go to the hard poles you work soft, then it became clear that they were two completely different art forms and I think it’s for the best that I didn’t end up with a pole because these women were so strong and masterful and in their power! So fun and inspirational to watch -also loved that every different type of body was represented.

Then out to dinner I organized with Marthin, Daniela and Alejandra, at Mesa Franca. Maybe the most incredible, creative meal, food, restaurant I’ve ever been to, all local, fresh ingredients, but also wonderful company and conversations. The sauces were next level and dessert was a cocoa mouse with a granita icy sorbet made out of the nuts shell of cocoa. Unbelievable. We joked that this meal was the equivalent of dancing salsa, all the different flavors unfolding in the mouth.

[laura-apexart]

Day 27th 8.3.23

Trip to Paramo got postponed because the car wasn’t working so Marthin kindly invited me over for lunch with his mother, who makes a delicious meal for us. It is so nice to be in another’s home and eat someone else’s cooking that is not my own or from a restaurant or street vendor. 

Always fun to see the inside of different homes–lots of plants and artwork and objects to hear stories about and his apartment building was designed by famous modernist architect Rogelio Salmona known for his red brick architecture.

His mom, who is an art conservator and does restoration, is walking to San Felipe (a neighborhood filled with galleries) to pick up a frame so she walks me to Sketch gallery and tells me they will tell me where to go next.  It’s a cool concrete space, dark because the whole exhibit is mostly video and video projection. The exhibition is called “Tu nombre sobre mi nombre” (your name on my name) by Luisebastián Sanabria (b.1991) who created a series of visual metaphors and conversations to examine his relationship with his father, and the pressures and weight he feels from his father—a very religious Catholic man who owns a coffee farm. 

Tower of Babel metaphor with spiraling staircase–father reads in english words that he does not understand. A projection of the artists private library and his fathers private storage space. A double channel video projection of the father holding a sack of coffee beans measuring with the weight of his son and vice versa.  The artist is gay and does not want to inherit the farm, the father must reconcile and accept his son’s path. 

I went to a couple more small galleries but was less invested or energized.

In the evening I traveled back to the Candeleria area to hear the concert Contos Frente al Fogon (Carrannguera music) four young female musicians in their 20s who were the winners of the Pena de Mujeres award PDE FUGA 2023 LA FUGA -It was a small cultural event at the Gilberto Alzate Avendaño Foundation, and a very endearing and sweet and joyful concert with an intergenerational crowd who clapped and danced along. 

[laura-apexart]

DAY 26th 8.2.23

It’s been a process to get to see a synagogue 

Unlike the other religious institutions, where I could just walk in, I have to coordinate and send my passport for security reasons and then I am given Vivianna’s number to contact and she gives me a time and the address. I notice the building appears to have the same marble stone on the outside as fragmentos —yellow, cream, not recognizable as a Synagogue until you look up and see a kind of Star of David latticework on the windows of the building inset behind the wall.

We meet at 1:45 and she welcomed me warmly and takes me first inside a smaller temple that’s mostly gray with a skylight of stained glass. We sit down in the wooden chairs to chat-she asks if I’m Jewish and I tell her a bit about myself.

She explains the layout of the space. We are currently sitting in the chairs directly around the Bemah which is in the center of the temple because it is an orthodox Sephardic

Synagogue, and because no one is currently praying we can sit in the center.  Everything is always built, directed eastward toward Jerusalem (where the Torah scripture and scrolls are stored). She points out that since men pray three times a day they get to sit around the Bemah whereas women are not required to pray three times a day so they do not have as much seating and they sit at the back in two rows close to the door which are separated by a low wooden fence. 

There are only around 3,500 practicing jews in Bogota and 4 synagogues (with a few smaller ones in schools). The Jews that do practice and observe are largely orthodox. I ask about anti-semitism. She points out that the Star of David is on the inside of the door -it’s not advertised but people are generally accepting and respectful. Later I will go home and notice that the tiles of the floor at my Airbnb have a pattern with a striking resemblance to the swastika –was this intentional?---which is very upsetting and hard to believe, and makes me feel very naive, and I try to focus on the shapes that the negative space makes. 

She gives me a tour of the rest of the complex-a big interior courtyard with the bones of a Sukkah, the bigger synagogue that is having some work done, in this one the chairs are folding like in a movie theater and there are big crystal chandeliers which prompts me to notice the balcony where the women are separated from the men to sit and look down, participate from a far.  There is a small kosher grocery store with essential provisions, a playground, community center, it is a whole world unto itself. Then she takes me to see the mikvah —where women go before their wedding —it’s a whole process, you have to remove all nail polish and jewelry and clean dirt from fingernails etc. and then each month after their period, some women also go. I ask about menopause.  I ask why it must be fresh, running water, bc scripture says so. 

There is a smaller mitzvah for cleaning dish wear too.  

In the evening I walk to Dame Tu Lengua where I am supposed to go to Kitchen Club and learn about cooking Cuban food/ The cooking class is canceled because the teacher has Covid so I walk up the mountain to go to Diosa bakery where I had incredible cookies at the liberate the coca festival. The neighborhood seems fancier and full of good looking restaurants. I get an assortment of baked goods to share and bring on the hike tomorrow.

[laura-apexart]

Day 25: 8.1.23 

Tonight is a full moon and rainy rainy day here. 

Claustro de San Agustín photojournalism exhibition El Testigo

Takes place in the Devenir University “a biocultural project engaging in the process of an Amazonian territory becoming a university.” Like most of the museums or cultural spaces I’ve visited, this one also has an incredible courtyard in the center lush with plant life.

There are two massive videos on the ground floor filmed in the Amazon rainforest, the orientation of the indigenous communities toward centering plant life -non human centric understanding of the world and learning through experiences, fieldwork, physical engagement, an oral tradition of story telling vs western focus on knowledge desire to catalogue and classify and record and document.

On the second floor is the exhibition of photo journalism which are incredibly poignant and sharp

Powerful.People holding up photos of family who has gone missing or were killed. Images of the cemetery. Military men using a person's shoulder to prop, rest their gun on.

Video of men in hazmat suits digging up bones from unmarked trails in the jungle.  

A young girl, maybe 6 looking through a shattered windowpain -her eye lining up with the bullet hole. A room of photos focusing on protests and demonstrations In simon de Bolívar square.

The Devenir University is located in the complex of Municipal/government buildings with lots of -Military on guard —I hear music/drums and sounds familiar from the military Parade music and when I leave the building, I follow the sound and see that the military marching band is practicing and this seems more interesting than the military parade itslef because I like watching their bodies shift from rigid and uptight to relaxed and resting in between sessions. I also like the formalism of their bodies against the backdrop of imposing marble buildings.  I want to film but don’t out of fear that I’ll get stopped or yelled at and am feeling too tired to handle that. 

In the late afternoon I have a Craft Beer Tour with Tasting

I am the only one which is funny but also nice because I get to just chat with the Guide–Gabriel who reminds me a bit of a friend-I tell him that this is a tour a would not sign up to take myself but he is a great story teller and very knowledgable and I realize that this is another way, angle, perspective of learning about the history of the city.  

We meet at the Cranky Croc Hostel in La Candeleria neighborhood and opens a bottle of beer for me and asks me to look at the brail number on the inside of the cap–I have the higher number so if we were at the store, he would buy the beer–a game him and his friends and other Bogata people play. He studied language and told me that when studying English his class was asked if they wanted to learn British or American phonetics–they chose American. 

Grew up on caribbean coast of Colombia and Venezuela and we spoke a bit about the politics of moving between both countries and the tensions. 

He also told me a story behind one of the indigenous ceremonial fermented drinks of Bogota first? made by the Muisca originally called Fatcqua but now called Chicha made of (apple, sugarcane, (spit) water and corn) —when the spaniards came the Muisca thought they were gods because they had guns which were like thunder and so they gave the colonizers whatever they wanted and they drank the Fatcqua and werent used to the corn in their bodies/diet and ran to the bushe with  diarirhea–and the Muiscas yelled Chicha Chicha–and the spaniards thought that was the name of the drink but really it was Diarrhea.

We talked about the culture around eating mombe as a social activity and the “Circle of Words”–emphasis on the oral tradition here, how information is transmitted through storytelling and not written down (which makes me acutely aware of this  process of listening to the guides, trying to hold what they say while having an experience, knowing that I must write it down, that much of what I write will omit certain details and maybe even botch up histories and facts etc and limited perspective.

[laura-apexart]

Day 24. 7.31.23

Rock climbing at Zona De Bloque 

To rent shoes and for 2 hours it’s about $8 

No class just free climb -left to my own devices. Wish I had guidance- had climbed a few times before in Brooklyn with friends using their guest passes and with their pointers. Enjoyed the kinesthetic negotiations and problem solving-I enjoy watching others move their bodies and cling and scale across colored knobs and blobs. The gym is playing hip hop and rap (mostly American music)  

Again -I am confronted with a sort of syntax and grammar but for the body to negotiate.I choose blue-beginner but still hard -I’m afraid of heights and of tweaking my back. The patterns of these different colored forms jutting out of the wall. I push myself and try different walls or sides around the gym but always stick to blue and get pretty high up-when I leave my arms are sore. Need to work on upper body strengthening. I probably should have stretched before beginning to climb like everyone else at the gym. HA.

In the afternoon, I go to Tipo, Lito, Calavera, Histories Del Diseno Grafico enn Colombia at Casa Republicanna de la Biblioteca Luis Anngel Arango–one of the first exhibitions to record the history of typography in Colombia during the 20th cen. Like so many of the museums here, the exhibition is in the Candelaria area. The exhibition had an amazing layout and display-album covers, books, advertisements, logos, comics, journals, political and social works.

In a vaulted room there's a small projected film playing , the color is gorgeous-it was filmed in the 60’s Bogota Blues —a take on an American in Paris to Rhapsody Blues by George Gershwin. I found the footage masterfully edited together, playing with shifts in camera speed and direction -buildings moving up and down for transitions between subjects–everything is organized in categories but still maintains a sort of chaos and mess of city life and beats and fun to sit next to two Bogota women as they watched in delight and pointed out different neighborhoods etc–see how the city looked in the 60’s –1963.

Various montages like cuts between people walking in the rain, running, reacting to the rain with their umbrellas or the domes and spires of churches and cathedrals or the city all light up at night , the neon signs, dogs wandering around roaming, the city at sunset and sunrise. Thought of what I would film or patterns I have noticed:

Uniforms -so many different ones 

Trash piles and trash pickers -picked trash 

Animals asleep in Windows 

Fruit/food vendors on the street 

Motorcycles at green lights like insects buzzing by 

The people on the bus selling snacks and various objects like headphones and sparkling hair clips 

Interesting to connect back to the Typography and graphic designs in all the printed works. Makes me want to study Gestalt psychology and rules of visual perception and patterns of the eye/mind. Accumulation of likeness. Can you find patterns in chaos? If you focus on a category and collect data of footage, maybe a type of sense or likeness starts to emerge? Everything is a Construction but we need structure and systems to function-which ones are culturally specific? Which ones transcend borders / boundaries?

In the Evenning I go to Meditation at the Bogota Buddhist Center

The center is being renovated (I went to the center’s address on Thursday and it was closed) so it’s taking place in the community room of one of the members apartments -I arrive early and the doorman/security guard sends me up to the 5th floor, it is the apartment of the mother of the women who is hosting, they are both so warm and welcoming and invite me in and she explains she is undergoing treatment-chemotherapy but almost done, that’s why she’s wearing a mask–but not to worry or feel bad for her because she is ok and feels good and I want to imagine the meditation must be a big part of that? I help bring down mats and other supplies we need for the meditation. I ask how she found her way to the practice.

She was working in Medelln (gods heart?) with children and a family that was stressful and she was smoking at the time and but couldn’t because of the job and wanted to quite, and a friend suggested meditation, she took to it, then when she moved to Bogota found this center. We set up and Juan -arrived leads the meditation and graciously translates the whole lecture / meditation for me -but the others assure me that it’s good practice for him (he agrees) because he's about to go on tour in Europe and lead sessions in English. All 7 members of the group, friends are warm and charismatic and good natured, so welcoming, open, and curious. It all feels so intimate and makeshift and I am curious to go to the center in nyc (by Empire State Building) they have 600 around the world . 

The meditation opens with a lecture that goes something like: We are shaped by are perceptions. If we have a happy disposition we will experience the world positively, if we are depressed and have hard feelings/outlook -circumstances, we might experience the world badly

The practice helps us be objective, remove ourselves from our feelings -feelings are impermanent.These are the teaching from a Tibetan teacher (Nepal) who trained a man and his wife from Holland / who now live in Bovaria, Germany and have a center and have trained Juan.

The lecture continues: It’s about experience moving from head and intellect to heart and experience so that you can connect with others -not about self, about others!!! 

The container stays the same -the contents are impermanent. 

Guided meditation with chanting dispersed that I loved at one point repeating two words the room was filled with whispers and humming and vibrating and it sounded wild but felt so focused

crystal light -tip of nose 

Red light in throat that connects with the sea

Blue light in heart that connects with the sea 

Black light ? form disintegrates 

All that is left is shining light, energy, joy, radiating outward. 

After a stayed a little longer to chat with some of the younger members, Isabella and her partner joined 2016-17 they were both raised Catholic, had questions that weren’t answered or addressed-took a course in school that exposed them to meditation, discovered this center in Bogota. They stressed the importance of questioning–do you feel something from it–does it resonate with you? It is important to ask yourself these questions, becomes so personal. 

[laura-apexart]

Day 23 7.30.23

Mercado De Las Pulgas De San Alejo–a 40 year old Flea Marke recognized in 2005 by the Distric Concil as a heritage site combining used objects, antiques and also new things. Vendors selling food, books, toys, parts of tools, lots of clothes, bags, shoes, music, spices, honey, and more of all kinds. It was an energetic, lively scene, but nothing in particular caught my eye, though I finally, tried thee big green spiky fruit called Guanábana, with white pulpy insides that tastes milky, tangy like yogurt. 

Then I travled back north to the Modern Gymnasium, where the Futuro Coca Festival–Fuco Musical Franja I or Liberate the coca festival was happening —a Beautiful venue -local brick architecture inner grassy area filled with white tents and lots of different type of coca plants, plants in the center of the field. Surrounding the field were tents set up for vendors selling different things and holding many different workshops and talks all focusing on the different uses of the plant, its various forms and functions—trying to give it back its dignity and medicinal, culinary and craft functions—It’s not just cocain -“fast food” where the farming and production of it has created so much violence, corruption and decimation of land and people. 

There was a natural dyeing workshop, fiber weaving workshop, some amazing bakeries, Mambo brought from the Amazon. Amazing people watching while I stood in line to go inside the beautiful theater–I ended up seeing a live concert Las Mijas La Muchacha + Briela Ojeda–three women who were incredible performers–It made me very emotional in a cathartic and exciting way–my body felt moved by their expression and ability to fully project and share their voice, music and talents.

[laura-apexart]

DAY 22: 7.29.23

In the morning I go to a cultural art space to meet Daniel who I met on Thursday through Alejandra (biologist, ceramicist) to see an exhibit of one of his friend— it’s a 15 min walk from me and the space is really beautiful and open–high ceilings with a small garden in the back. The exhibition is filled with organic materials and matter -spiraling cracked eggshells acting as miniature terrariums holding moss and soil and sprouting life, fragile and broken but also promising new life beginnings.  

Then I travel south to the Candelaria neighborhood up on the mountain to the dance studio / seems like they offer so many amazing classes for free! There is a a outdoor amphitheater at base of dance studio with a  metal concert happening. Lots of steampunk fashion and goth looks. I take an Intermediate Ballet class because that is what is on my schedule.  I’ve never done ballet in my life and it’s a new grammar for the body-so structured and rigid -I have a new appreciation for fluidity that ballet dancers pocess.  Nothing about the movement seems natural to me. To move my body like this—in such a strict, structured way is a bit painful and also makes me grin because the classical music and other dancers are moving so delicately and with ease and I feel more like I am moving like the thrashing heads jamming along to the metal concert outside. But I follow along as best I can and love how movement is mimicry and you don’t have to know a spoken language but my body does not have the physical language either so I smile my whole way through and everyone is taking it very seriously so I also try to to respect the seriousness. But kinda just can’t hold back my grin.

Then I go to an Improv show at the Garage Theater 

Despite the language barrier still able to enjoy and it was funny because of tone, speed of voice, physical movement and physical comedy. The chemistry of performers and the various dynamics was fun to watch and appreciate–you could tell they were having fun and enjoyed eachother’s senses of humor. They used minimal props but there was a very consistent structure —a couple sat at a table and kind of directed/or created the prompts or scenarios to guide the other three women and two men who would jump in and out to activate the characters and scenes they described. A teacher and school children with a central figure who danced a lot in a very funny way. The moving between time and characters seemed very skillful and also was fun to whiteness. Funny when the audience would laugh at a bit that went over my head but the the laughter of the crowed still made me laugh.

[laura-apexart]

DAY 21 : 7.28.23

The Cezanne documentary was sold out so I walked around the neighborhood until Marthin picked me up to go Visit Delcy Morelos studio. 

She was at the sweat ceremony and we all rode the bus back to the city together and she invited us to visit. When we arrive at her studio on the outskirts of Candeleria neighborhood, 

we are greeted by her 4 dogs and 4 cats– And there are also addolescent ducks but they greet us later, when we take a tour of the garden a neighboring building that is being restored as a storage area // more work space.

Before looking at her studio or work we go sit in her office which is more library or sanctuary made of beautiful wood and a cement sloped ceiling so it stays cool. There are lots of shelves with wooden boxes as movable drawers or containers. The space is lit by natural light and filled with beautiful objects-mostly organic, like her collection of hand woven baskets of various sizes and proportions collected from the Amazon.  All the fibers are natural and also hand made-she has a couple rolls of the twine that was spun from the bark of a tree or roots or a plant (I didn’t catch the specific name of it) and she also has an incredible wasp nest and bird nest collection, with potatoes that are white and chalky and apparently still edible. She invites us to sit down on small stools and lights candles and incense and Marthin and her chat, and I listen intently and try to understand but also submit and try to relax and just enjoy sitting in the beautiful space looking at all the beautiful objects. In her studio, she also has an incredible textile collection because she makes her own clothes which are beautiful, simple patterns (Japanese influence)  denim, Colton, linens.

She is preparing for a number of exhibitions in nyc and has a number of studio assistants helping her. One is at Dia. Chelsea in October–which will be fun to go see.

Because much of her work is made with earth /dirt, living matter, she explains, it can’t be shipped because of rules and regulations agains introducing seeds and soil and living matter from one continent or country to another. Funny to think of all the new microscopic matter and bacteria I will carry with me home after my month here. 

Crates are filled with hand made clay objects painted with a black chorcoal looking pigment, made to replicate the shapes of fossils and bones, Seeds, Carrots or tree roots. She will create the layers of the earth within her installation. 

After our studio tour, we sit in her kitchen drinking barley tea for hours talking.

Barbra Santos (whose installation I had seen at the national gallery a few days earlier) who also works with indigenous tribes in the Amazon, has been going since 18 yrs old and focusing on the land, earth and its stories, a non human centric perspective, also comes to visit as well as a gentle man originally from North Carolina who has been living in Bogota for 3 years teaching English. 

We  talk about horoscopes, all of our signs and their meanings, I tell her I’m a triple water sign and she gasps HA! So emotional, you lead with emotions, very intense–but have been told from a young age that I am too sensitive–which is why maybe I am so good at masking and sometimes being inscrutinable–a form of overcompensating?. She is also part Scorpio–Scorpio’s have a tendency to want to self-destruct–so the antidote is working your way through it–making, making, making! This resonated.) Conversation traverses family, teaching, racisom or fear of foreigners-between different cultures and specific stories of personal experiences, her recent trip to the Amazon, how it heightened all of her senses, she went alone and stayed with an indigenous tribe which she had been studying but still was getting to know them. We talk about places to travel outside of the city (that I should try to see to be in nature, because Colombia has some of the richest, most bio diverse ecosystems in the world) . I will have to come back. 

The difference between being inside of something and physically experiencing it with your body and senses (nervous system) vs reading /studying something from books and in an academic sense.  We talk about Input vs influence. A lot of the conversation is in Spanish and only some is translated. And I’m both trying to follow along but also kinda submitting and just enjoying the beautiful space and people but also feeling an exhaustion from my brain's battle to try to know but not know and be comfortable and ok with that. And time kinda disappears and I dono if this would happen in nyc. And by the time we leave it’s past 10pm, past my bedtime.

[laura-apexart]

Day 20 7.27

Ceramics assistant to Alejandro who is also a biologist -grew up in Cali and very knowledgeable and passionate about biology, climate and the process of ceramics and clay and really all things! 

(Self taught —last 6 years—and has a beautiful studio with a gas kiln and she teaches workshops and classes  and also does commissions for restaurants etc. Trained as a scientist she is very methodical and structured about her process--systems based.

She is amazing in her outlook also a city tour guide so very knowledgeable about the cities history. “Matter is matter “. Clay as living, having memory, talking back to you. Her studio is across from the national university of Colombia -Bogota 

We do wrist and hand exercises before we begin, I love this as a way to begin work! Body work and care, out of necessity for longevity-body as the most important tool! Weigh out clay and then kneed to get out air bubbles. She shows me a special technique so the clay looks like a duck with a spiraled bill. Properties of clay -earth, can be recycled or broken/remade, so consistent with an ethos of caring for the earth and maybe a greater philosophy for living.

We talk about how much you can tell about a person from the way they handle the clay—she’s recently started working with a 15 yr old who is struggling and she is very determined to understand him and learn different ways of working/teaching to meet his needs. We talk about teaching--being structured and disciplined with students but also gentle and open, offering different methods and techniques for working.

The relationship between Physics, chemistry -centripetal force--she teaches me to use the wheel for the first time with a specific method--I can see how intelligence emerges from the hand and muscle memory and it feels good to play---and the pedal reminds me of working with my sewing machine and I love that I can just make something and then smush it! I don't know that I would have the patience required to measure everything out and replicate objects by hand in such a methodical way as she shows me--maybe! I am impressed.

At around 1pm we walk over to Por feura de La lInea on the outskirts of Teusaquillo —a historic district of landmarks buildings housing cultural institutions-

Jewelry maker / metal smith  Wendy and Daniel who studied art administration and makes furniture works with Laser cutting and also does 3D printing. A collective that met at the university and help advocate for emerging artists /young artists find spaces and get paid for their work! Emphasis on wellness of the artists , creating security so they can produce good work. They also maybe do some freelance Work for cultural ministry?  They gave me a map of all the cultural districts in Teusaquillo which includes their space and collective that they are trying to unify and is very helpful in giving me a sense of direction and where to go when wandering around this neighborhood.

[laura-apexart]

Day 19 2.26.23

Therapy. Process Temazcal with Diana 

She says --Can be dangerous and trigger a psychological break– if you don’t have experience or don’t properly prepare . The goal is Love . Setting boundaries is not through saying but through doing –don’t conform--a tendency to give more weight to other people’s beliefs and feelings than my own and what’s best for me. Where does the expectation come from of thinking I need to know certain things ?

And the shame of not knowing certain things (thinking I should) which prevents me from asking questions and learning or being open minded, to hearing another's perspective or beliefs. Why would I know certain things? Saying you don’t understand or know is ok!

Apex check-in

The goal is to be honest with yourself. Why are you doing that thing/ what is the intention behind it–is the intention honest? What are the questions you are asking. Where do those questions come from?

Went to sign language class for deaf and blind–Incredibly challenging 

Learned sign is not universal-just as different countries have different languages and different regions, different dialects so does sign–maybe this was obvious, but I had no idea.

The instructor was incredibly charismatic and lovely participants. The instructor had us do a series of exercises in rotating pairs to explore signing -communicating by silently spelling out letters in the palms of each other's hands with our eyes closed.   I found this incredibly difficult to visualize and retain the letters long enough to string them together—to spell a word. I wanted blocks or a physical object to touch and move around. It was intimate and physical and I became distracted by the feeling/temperature / texture of the other person's hands and all the sound in the room and smells .  We remember/ experience how people make us feel, not what they say, how they say it, warmth and openness through reciprocal exchange -sharing ideas or experiences (doesn’t necessarily have to be attached to biography or preferences etc). Makes me think of Maya Angelou quote “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

[laura-apexart]

Day 18 7.25

Scientology Church 

The floor of a modern building with a receptionist who guides me to the center of the room which is oriented in a circle with -four tvs facing inward, each playing different videos focusing on the different aspects of Scientology 

Youth groups human rights and human liberty movements, the origins and recognition, anti-drug elimination campaigns, Dianetics, exploration, etc. 

The tvs are also on the outside of the circle -4 more -a total of 8 maybe even more! Then a whole book shop filled with Ron L Hubbard books-sole author and creator -hmmm

Then there are cubicles —testing stations and then offices with glass windows for personal consultations and readings ? There is a world where I pursue one as experience as “research” as curiosity, but not today. Feels a bit like some of the pseudoscience I have been exploring in my own work -maybe fertile territory to mine in terms of constructions and world building.

Then I go north to a very fancy neighborhood called "Calle de los Anticuarios." “ A street with a unique personality that for years has offered the best in decoration, design, fashion, and gastronomy.”

 boutique stores -beautiful things all made by Colombian and South American artisans and designers. I love looking and touching and shopping definitely scratches an itch when I’m not making perhaps -I will come back to buy some gifts.

The Movie “the outsiders” is –sold out at the public Cinemateca of Bogota so the women selling tickets gave me one to the opening of Cartigraphfias De Lo no Visto–Cartographies of the Unseen–a researched based photography/video installation by Claudia Gordillo taking place inside one of the cinema theaters. Multi-channel, many screens within screens, with many people talking simultaneously about territory, women and various cultural practices. 

[laura-apexart]

Day 17 7.24

Monday–light day 

Feeling incredibly drained this morning-probably very dehydrated from the copious amounts of sweat and toxins my body released yesterday during the Temazcal ceremony. 

Went to Masjid Abou Bakr Alsiddiq Mosque, but it was gated and locked / so I walked around it-one side connects to gas station/ mechanic —and all the doors were closed and there were a pair of sandies outside one of them— so I will have to go back at a time before prayer starts-

It is also across the street from the school of military training -which I started to film and then got admonished by one of the military guards. High security. I like the symmetry and the fact that one of the guards is sitting in what looks like a lifeguard chair–very high up.

The silhouette of the rounded domed mosque meets the mountains -Monserrate and I start thinking about how beautiful and awe inspiring the mountain is and how that in itself is something to pray to and revere and how the Temazcal ceremony was a very humbling way of acknowledging and thanking the mountain and land in such a direct way— offering thanks to each four directions.  And how the catholic church that was built on top of Monserrate as a site of holy Pilgrimage existed as such without and before a church was built. 

Basics of bitcoin online workshop. Alternative economy removing third party banks. Fascinating that the “Entity” was formed in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto and the person or people behind it were originally anonymous.

NFT’s non-fungible–meaning they are one of a kind–and thus can have crazy amounts of value. Who determines the value? Thinking about how everything is a construct–some are just more elaborate than others.

Dinner with B and T 

T who is from here and lives here talks about how she doesn’t feel safe, I’ve gotten this from other young women here. Does my being a foreigner give me a passport of protection-a reputation to uphold (both ends).

[laura-apexart]

Day 16 7.23

I am supposed to meet Marthin at 9am and woke up early and left early but still managed to be late! But he reminds me not to rush–we take the TransMilenio to a bus–we are going about 2 hours outside of the city to Pena de Juaica (rock of Juaica) where he tells me there has been recordings of paranormal activity and we will go to a beautiful compound with fruit trees and a

Temazcal -A circular dome like structure stands low to the ground (once inside I learn it is a feminine structure, meant to symbolize/reproduce the feeling of being inside womb–I learn: If you are menstruating you cannot participate) -built with long thin malleable branches that are bent to form a dome like structure and are tied with twine -a dirt pit for hot rocks to be placed is in the center. It is covered with wool and felt blankets to trap heat and light. 

A Mexican sweat lodge or house of heat from mesoamerica pre-Hispanic indigenous cultures —for a cleansing ritual—aside from this description in my calendar  “A Temazcal is a ceremony steeped in Mexican heritage. It involves participants sitting in a traditional sweat lodge for health and therapeutic benefits. Ceremonies usually last for two or more hours and are typically led by a sort of spiritual leader called a shaman or Temazcalero,”  I don’t know much but Marthin preps me a bit on the bus ride up–

They have started heating the rocks at around 9am, and when we arrive around 11:45 everyone is drinking tea and sitting around the fire, relaxed and casual–and the Mexican couple who are leading the ceremony are prepping and I learn of all these Imaginary lines and rules for the ritual, first by entering the circle through the exit (wrong way!) where ashes from the fire have been laid–I am embarrassed and feel bad and disrespectful and like I am inattentive–but how can you see what you do not know to look for? Soon the feeling passes. Once inside the circle I decide to get some of the tea that everyone keeps going up to get in a very casual way, and so without asking what it was I go get some. Only after I had consumed it, did I realize it was Peyote–next time better to ask before doing what everyone else is doing.  Then, this time knowing, I ate some in paste form that was offered because it all felt like part of the experience–and I have had some previous experience with not Peyote but other plant medicine and psychedelics.

Before entering the space we all stand around the fire and silently set our intentions and then throw tobacco on fire where volcanic porous rocks are being heated 

When entering the lodge we say-”for all my family relations” 

Once inside and watching others enter, I noticed the women bowed to earth, men did not–I also did not–which again brought up feelings of being irreverent and ignorant and also like I rushed! But, I try to let go of the self-judgment (a fear that others are judging me–but no one is–I am judging myself).

South, east, North—ancestors, past, present, future, west —where sun sets and turns the color of menstrual blood  -where women bond and connect with each other and with Gia 

Where men get jealous that women have this monthly reminder to connect with their body and the earth —this ritual is a reminder. 

First drum beat and chant started crying what a release -emotional valve opening 

Small child is also inside crying and scared and then left and what if we as adults could have the same unfiltered emotional responses. At what point do we learn to hold this unfiltered fear or worry or whatever inside—This sweat ritual feels in part about extreme expelling and releasing and also connecting and grounding.

Door is open after each direction 

Hot rocks are placed in with antlers and offerings of different scents /tobacco or sage are offered then water is poured on top of the volcanic rocks and the door is shut and it is completely dark and more water is poured and some of the women within the circle say prayers and lead chants with drumming and all are encouraged to sing or hum along, which serves many physical as well as social purposes. 

When it gets too hot bow to earth -it is cooling and humbling 

Don’t breathe with mouth bc fire on someone in front of your back of neck 

Breath with nose. Hum or chant or sing along even if you do not know the words because it helps release oxygen and create circulation and breath. If you are not in need of healing let your strength heal others.

The prayers between each direction are translated for me by a young 23 year old German women who has already lived on 4 diff continents and left home at age 15 and is ready to move to Australia and have children because she has lived so many lives. 

After it is over I crawl out. My heart racing intensely and I find some grass to lay down in, under a tree, to cool and regulate. With eyes closed and heart racing,  I see a raccoon and later looked up its symbolism. Childlike, playful, resourceful and able to adapt and find creative solutions to spiritual issues–I am sure there are more meanings to uncover. 

Everyone is sharing and eating fruit which they have brought as an offering. 

We stay until sunset by the fire. It is tranquil and lovely. Ducks and dogs play with the three small children who belong to some of the couples who have participated in the ceremony. 

The leader of the ceremony tells me: “In order to communicate with the people you must learn the language.” I have been asking myself this question–can you truly immerse in another culture without knowing the language? It feels like there are many ways of communicating. 

[laura-apexart]

Day 15 7.22.23

Yoga 

3 hours long

My body needed it, it was amazing in the pacing, rigorous but also kinda yin in that there was a lot of meditation and breath-work and holding poses and the space was beautiful and smelled of sage and the light kept shifting bc there was a sky light and also a nice breeze.

Took the rest of the day to wander around Marly area-seems like young hip neighborhood and then Chapinero my neighborhood, the weather is unbelievable, sunny but light pants and a light coat , brisk like a  combo of spring and fall, it will often rain mist early in the day.

[laura-apexart]

Day 14 7.21.23

The Glass Museum 

Trek to get there and when I did the bus dropped me off in a place where I had to follow a small muddy path up the hillside -(Didn’t sleep so well-so feeling emotionally fragile and distraught) 

The path spit me out on a small road that I walked down to find a small gated White House with red trim, a garden and beautiful stained glass windows—the museum was very small and featured tools and equipment for various glass blowing and casting processes. There was a workshop where tons of glass bottles and broken window pains and rods were collected to reform and remake -workshops and classes were held–felt very homegrown and self-made and independently maintained which was nice and unusual and charming. 

Then went to a small library walking distance from my Airbnb for what I thought was going to be a photobiography/documentary film class were we used our own photos to construct our own narratives about the city, instead we watched the Italian film Cinema Paradiso which is all about a love of film and movies while playing with shifts in time, weaving together, past, present, future. It was at 2pm—5pm and I was in a small cinema room with about 7 other senior adults.

Then I went to the central universities teatro Mexico auditorium to see/hear a talk on 

“Hip hop as an urban expression of protest that, through different artistic elements, has become a channel to communicate a political and social message with which many Bogotanos of different ages, territories, and social classes identify. In this space, hip hop will be discussed from the voice of women, as an essential tool to tell the history of our communities and the reality of the stigmatized and hit territories by the armed conflict.” 

I thought about the difference between talking about one’s work vs actually doing it, performing it, how both are probably completely necessary but how the art itself, the action and physical expression becomes all the more powerful esp when there are language barriers-the crowd was mostly younger, college students, people in their 20s and 30s, hip, cool, artsy , a real contrast from the smaller room I had just come from at the library.

After they played a film “El Golpe is a short film that accompanies the album YEYO by Marc Ginale. The story is about a driver who takes illegal jobs to survive in Venezuela. On a normal night, Marc has a job to complete within a time limit. While driving through the city streets, the main character reflects on the realities he faces on a daily basis, including violence and corruption. This audiovisual offers an honest perspective on the life of a person who expresses his point of view on the reality of a country in crisis.”

Thought about music videos in general and how often they glorify sex and violence and drugs but maybe that is part of their transgressive nature -to control a narrative and reclaim it as expression/art? I dono.