Manymini residency 7th July

So the date was Saturday 5th July we checked our email later than we hoped, due to our highly active free furniture gleaning over the past week and weeks to come as we set up the studios and live in space. We read that the opening our friend had told us about finished at 10pm...it was now 10.30pm, hum! Okay we keep reading the links to the openings host, the Manymini residency and they still have time slots available, we apply and they say yes come make art.

On the 7th July, we wake with the swallows, at 6.40am, other days we've been waking much earlier but today the sun is mellowed by a light smattering of clouds. We are super excited to have the opportunity to get going again on our art making and in response to the Destination: Berlin works-on-paper opening that we missed on Saturday the 5th, these words from the invitation stand out "carefree backpackers artists suitcases various destinations with no confirmed schedule or order of travel works on paper" we relate so strongly and so we head off on foot, with our art suitcase.

We walk to the manymini studio in Kreuzberg, from our place in Prenzlauerberg, it reflect how we have spent the past year, walking slowly with no set schedule, i take photos of all the street treasure I'd like to collect, but don't necessarily unless it fits into our suitcase. I take photos of the journey, of the new streets we walk along. It takes us about 2hrs to get there and we have 2hrs remaining for our residency.

I start building a textile homage to all the workers in blue overalls......

I noticed so many of these overall clad people during our walk, wow I have always loved the 11am slot, but here in Berlin this new time slot 7-9am on the streets brings out all the people in overalls, it's fantastic I'm somewhere different. Even if it's not just Berlin, Germany, this funny phonemena speaks to me and yes perhaps it is because my head is in a different place I'm waking with the masses to work, this is different after living the backpacking lifestyle.

I love that we walked past this couple seen as a speck over my shoulder in the photos on flickr, on the way home as we walk back retracing our steps in exactly the same way, we walked past the same couple, uncanny! By this time the couple were in a park....I shyed from taking the shot, darn it.

For Cara it's more about taking stock of what art paraphenalia we have brought with us on this leg of the journey, she unpacks and sorts the suitcase and ponders and continues drawing the airmail envelopes we've been drawing since Glasgow and she drinks coffee. I notice how much we talk whilst we work, the energy from my mind flitters out then we are both working side by side on our different paths of spontaneity and then cara is talking more and i begin to focus and then there is calmness.

I spotted a free bread shop, and we got two loaves of lovely grained brot, they were sturdy...not the freshly baked variety and it triggers an idea based on a facade that looked like it was still damaged from the war, all overgrown with vines and entry prohibited ...and an artice I read saying that there are still undetinated bombs maybe 700 sites in Berlin, waiting to be cleared safe for human use. In response I shot and edited a playful short video 'Brot des bombes', with Cara's helping hands and sound effects (scroll to the last day, 7th July to find us and enjoy the other participants work too.)