Fri 20 Dec 2024
Earth Body V has
completely gone
The floods have passed once again and the river has returned to reveal the sculpture, which has finally been completely swept away from the rock face this time now. There is no trace of what was, only a memory in the story I am telling and the images of what was. The earth has dissolved into thousands of particles, carried, scattered and redistributed by the elemental forces of the river. Fed back to the ground. I feel a calmness knowing the life-cycle of this work is finally complete.
.
Floods return
even stronger
Tripod returned
This is actually a miracle.
The Bidayuh believe that if you sleep in the riverbed, the River Spirit will come and visit you in the night and grant you what you want. They believe she knows what you want without you having to ask.
Thank you River Spirit.
The Bidayuh believe that if you sleep in the riverbed, the River Spirit will come and visit you in the night and grant you what you want. They believe she knows what you want without you having to ask.
Thank you River Spirit.
Weds 18 Dec 2024
Floods Pass
I awake to a beautifully calm morning, the sun is out. The river has completely gone back down and I walk over to check on the piece. To my amazement, it is still sitting there in the middle of the riverbed.
I actually can’t believe it.
The face has warped under the waters current and the expression has deteriorated but remains mostly in tact. The strange thing is, the solid part that dried from the kilning is actually the part that didn’t last.
It’s quite a peaceful image if anything-
turbulent waters running still beneath.
Sun 15 Dec 2024
colour tests
and clay heads
I have been creating more clay heads during the heavy rains that continue to fall each afternoon. The style is evolving and I have been experimenting with a more detailed level of human expression. The below left work is modelled on Lelem’s head. This is a gift to him and his father. They joke about me giving a head to head hunters.
Experiments continue with using dried clay pigments which I am very pleased with.
Location search for a large scale sculpture site
Today We visit the old village Rejoi, where 45 families used to live around 10 year ago. The villagers were moved out from their homes due to the building of a huge dam by the government. It’s emotional for Lelem to revisit this place as he grew up here and hasn’t been back for a decade. We enter off the jungle track and hack our way in with a machete. ‘Here is where Kewa’s house was’ he mentions whilst pointing to some ferns. There is virtually no sign of anyone having lived here other than a few wooden posts and an old generator completely grown over. It’s not that the jungle grew over everything, it is that the villagers moved every material, piece by piece, to rebuild their new village. In the jungle, absolutely nothing is wasted.
After a full day of hiking, my heart is full, body tired, but my mind is still wondering for a location for a bigger sculpture. Rejoi, like most places I have visited so far, was too dense with foliage to locate my next earth body work. My criteria are quite specific:
- Recieves direct sun.
- Open plan enough to work in.
- near clay.
- near water.
- near where we’re staying (so i can cover with tarp at the first sign of rain each day).
- a certain feeling of awe about the environment (unique to the area we are in).
Perhaps I am expecting too much? Am I coming into the environment ‘ready to percieve’ or do I have preconceptions?
There is one more place I want to visit deep in the jungle up in the mountain -The village of Semban where the Bidayuh lived before Rejoi. The houses are still there, but completely overgrown by vines and forest. Lelem tells me there are even many human skulls left from when they were still head hunters.
The Bengoh Stone
Lelem tells me of the Bengoh Ancient Stone, a significant cultural and historical artifact associated with the Bidayuh people. The stone is steeped in legend and holds spiritual significance for the local community. chosen especially from the riverbed by the head pagans, The Bengoh Stone is a large, flat rock, inscribed with mysterious carvings that resemble ancient drawings or symbols. These carvings depict humans, animals, and other symbols. The exact origins of these carvings are not clearly known, but they are believed to predate modern history, potentially being the work of early Bidayuh ancestors or other ancient inhabitants of the region.
Legends associated with the Bengoh stone
It’s said that the carvings on the stone were made by the early ancestors of the Bidayuh as a way of passing down knowledge and marking the importance of the area as a sacred or strategic place. These carvings may represent stories of creation, survival, or community rituals.
According to some legends, the carvings were meant to serve as a warning or prophecy for future generations, reminding them to respect nature and live in harmony with the spirits of the land.
The Bengoh Stone is sometimes viewed as a gateway to the spirit world. The carvings are believed to have spiritual significance, with some locals suggesting that they may have been used in rituals or ceremonies to communicate with the spirits.
The stone reminds me of the Shiva Lingham in India, a theme which keeps coming up in relation to the Earth Body works I am creating. There seems to be no images of the Bengoh stone online which makes it even more mysterious.
Purple pigment and orange clay
I add colours into the face found within it’s surrounding environment. At first, I’m unsure of the impression these leave. The pinky flesh tones feel very european and not of Borneo. Also, working the colours into the piece is proving difficult as the clay is not drying. It is raining heavily every day here now and it is recieving no direct sunlight to bake it. I feel I am losing momentum and faith in the development of this work. Without the surface drying, it feels as though it is a bit stuck.
I begin building directly onto the rock face. The clay holds suprisingly well. The main challenge of working in the river seems to be how slippery all the rocks are.
The Red River
There are three rivers meeting at the point where we are staying in the jungle. One of these rivers has a rich, glowing red colour. The locals say it gets it’s colour form the tree roots. I find myself particularly drawn to this place.
Lelem tells us a Bidayuh folklore that if you sleep on the riverbed, the Penunggu Sungai, the guardian spirit of the river, will come to you in the night and bring you what you are searching for.
Flash Floods
It’s the rainy season and December is known for being the wettest month here. The river is prone to severe flash floods when particularly heavy rains fall up in the mountains. Knowing this, I have decided to biuld the work in the centre of the riverbed and create an ephemeral work that will at some point be washed away.
I don’t know when this might happen as there is no way of forecasting the microclimate here. The locals feel it is coming soon due to the humidity in the air this week.They predict next week. Sometimes the waters can rise by over 3 metres in one go.
Earthen floor and studio space
It’s been raining a lot.
Ben and I decide to renovate a small shack in the jungle and turn it into a studio space with an earthen floor.
Journey to Kampong
Nyegol village
We drive down to the Dam to meet meet Moose who is then taking us by boat to Kampong Nyegol, an indigenous village of just ten families living here.
On the drive down the land quickly changes, becoming increasingly remote, overgrown and mountainous. The forest is dense. The Grab driver excitedly mentions ‘this is the village where my wife is from, there are a lot of crocodiles’.
I notice a strong transitional feeling the closer we get towards the dam, a humbling of the senses, a cautiousness of spirit as we depart from the city and get closer to the jungle. The atmsphere becoming realer, of life itself, no cotton wool, no bubble, a reality of the planet we live without the distractions and illusions of the manmade environment. I feel a sharpening of the senses, a tuning of the mind and body.
We meet Moose and head to the village via the waters. The mountains, river and sky surround us. From the village we walk further to meet Lottie and Lelem at Ngapuh Lodge, here I’ll be staying for the next month.
Sun 1 Dec 2024
Travelling to Sarawak, Borneo.
Today I arrived in Kuching with Ben Khan. Tomorrow we travel by boat and hike into the jungle where we will stay for the next month alongside the Bidayuh indigenous community living there.
We plan to spend the next month continuing to work with the earth here whilst developing our practices alongside one other, documenting our journey through sound, film and sculpture, connecting with the culture and wisdom of the land and the community.