On January 19th, 2013 five participants and myself went for a walk in the woods at night just north of Boston.  We played a compass game that had each of the participants walking solo through the dark, waiting in the woods for the whistle, and then returning.  This was repeated three times, with each wait becoming longer and longer; the first interval lasted approximately 1 minute, the second interval was 5 minutes, and the last interval lasted 20 minutes.

In the Fells, January 19, 2013, 5:43pm


During the time in the woods participants meditated on the following koans.

                   -As we walked into the woods, and while playing the compass game:

“THE FIRST IS LIKE A MASSIVE PENDULUM OF IRON THAT SWINGS BACK AND FORTH, BACK AND FORTH, BACK AND FORTH.  THE SECOND SQUIRMS AND WRIGGLES LIKE A BLUEFISH IN THE BAY.”



-And as we walked back from the woods:

“MU, WHY DID I KID MYSELF THAT THE FIRST TIME HAS ABOSLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH LIFE; THE FIRST, THE SECOND, AND EVERY OTHER TIME HAS ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING AND ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH MY LIFE. THAT IS WHY I ENJOY IT AND HATE IT AT THE SAME TIME.”





We then sat on the floor of the Oak Grove T-station (which was closed for construction) and engaged in dialogue.  The discussion started with  how the compass game in the dark could relate to the koans, and how any of the experiences or thoughts had in the woods could relate to daily life.  From there the conversation "drifted" to various things, including sharing childhood memories.

The project was designed to indirectly analyze our society and culture through a camouflaged look at our daily patterns.








Note:  I intentionally do not include documentation of the dialogue as there is no way to represent the experiences had by the participants.  As James Turrell says of his work, this is a "non-vicarious art".  Unlike with reality TV, you can't have a secondary experience by listening in on the conversations that happened in the subway stop in Melrose.  




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