This piece was created for the Albany BulbFest in 2019, a festival exploring the resilience of the park in the face of natural and human effects. I composed five short monologues to draw people’s attention to various points in the park. The audio was accessed via QR codes printed on cards that I hung on trees near each point. Similar to “I Spy” and “Utility Box Art,” my aim was to call attention to views that people might not notice otherwise. I believe this encourages people to appreciate their surroundings more and enriches their sense of place.
The piece is about being present in a location, truly paying attention to what’s in front of you, below you, around you, right now. It addresses how the feeling of presence ties one to the environment and the world in general; we are still here, now. And now. At each moment our bodies are recreating themselves and the land is changing and evolving. There is always loss, but there is always rebirth and regeneration.
I’ve reinstalled it with permanent tiles marking each spot. Look for them attached to hunks of concrete on the ground. There are five spots marked on the map with stars. Each tile has a QR code that links to this webpage where you can listen to the audio recordings. The map is also on the Bulb bulletin board.
Spot 1: What is here now
Spot 2: Where You Are
Spot 3: All Around You
Spot 4: Now is Now
Spot 5: You Are Here
1. What is Here Now. You are here. Welcome.
Resilience is a concept. It can mean to bounce back from adversity, or to adapt to adversity, or to proactively adjust to changing conditions. What is permanent and what is ever changing? You are in the river of time, flowing with it. All of us flowing from this point to the next. As humans we experience time differently than plants and animals do, but we are all in the flow, moving together.
Resilience is acceptance of what is, of things as they are now. It is looking forward, always. Resilience is positive in the face of negative. What is permanent and what is ever changing? That’s a trick question! The permanence of a resilient place is defined by its capacity to change constantly. Permanence must include change.
2. Where you are. You are here. Welcome.
John Muir wrote: “Here is calm so deep, grasses cease waving. . . . Wonderful how completely everything in wild nature fits into us, as if truly part and parent of us. The sun shines not on us but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us, thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance of our bodies, making them glide and sing. The trees wave and the flowers bloom in our bodies as well as our souls, and every bird song, wind song, and; tremendous storm song of the rocks in the heart of the mountains is our song, our very own, and sings our love.”
3. All around you. You are here. Welcome.
Find a spot off the trail to be alone. Listen to your breath. I’ll stop talking. Be with what you can hear.
Take a moment to tune into what you are hearing. There’s the sound of my voice. Birds. Distant traffic. Wind moving in the trees. An airplane. Small waves in the water below. You can direct your attention selectively. Block out the traffic and hear only the birds.
How do you take in the solid reality of ground beneath your feet? The earth is below you The earth is below you The earth is below you. The stars are behind the lighted sky, waiting for darkness to be seen. Feel yourself as being part of a landscape, being inside it as if you are swimming through it, on top of it as if it’s a map you walk upon, or being such an integrated part of it that you cannot separate yourself from it. It needs you.
Notice the sound of the grass shushing past your feet as you walk. How long does a path need to be unused before the grass takes it over again? Think of the interplay of plants taking root and thriving where they are and moving to cover more ground, then the action of humans stepping on them, hindering their growth, but only temporarily. The plants will win out. They are persistent.
4. Now is now. You are here. Welcome.
I’m your tour guide. I’ve been here before. You have not. You haven’t been in this exact place, at this exact time. This event, this now, is unique. I’ll take a photo of this place, and you’ll be in it. When I take a photo tomorrow, you won’t. Nor the next day, nor the next. But I know you were here, at this time, in this place.
Feel it now. Feel the nowness. When you come back to this place, this exact place, things will be changed. You might not notice it. That shrub will be slightly taller. The pattern of ruts in the path will be more or less deep. You’ll see birds, or not. Still, you’ll grasp the underlying being of this place. It will be familiar, despite the changes. Because you are changing too, each moment. As you change and as this place changes, your memories may shift, trying to capture all of the times and places imposed on each other, each day more and more.
Meister Eckhart said “There exists only the present instant… a Now which always and without end is itself new. There is no yesterday nor any tomorrow, but only Now, as it was a thousand years ago and as it will be a thousand years hence.”
5. You Are Here. You are here. Welcome.
This place is made of landfill. Water all around. What do you smell? Salt air, earth, trees. Look at the clouds. Is it overcast or clear? Just imagine clouds. Find shapes, see shadows. See the light. See it changing.
This place is land, but not made by nature. Invented land. Formerly: water. Where you now walk, was bay. Imagine walking out over the water. Seeing the view you now see, that wasn’t possible then. You have the capacity to imagine things that no longer are. You have the capacity to imagine things that might be.
Can you feel how much life is all around you? Try it. Narrow your field of vision. Pick out a square inch to focus your attention on. It could be the pavement, or a tree, or the sky. Feel energy emanating from that tiny inch. Energy being sent out in all directions, connecting to everything else around it.
Look at the trees around you. Note how the wind has shaped them. Trees need wind to grow strong. They need wind to resist against, to encourage their roots to grow deep. They need to push against it to keep growing upward. The adversity of wind invokes their resilience. Where there is no adversity, there is no resilience.