Before I Head Out

    This coming Saturday, I have the fortune to fly out to Tallinn, Estonia for a week celebrate Jaanipäev or the Midsummer Solstice (also called St. John's Eve). With the aid of the Bartlett Travel Scholarship through the Newcastle University Art Department, I will conduct a week's worth of research on the holiday focusing on the folklore traditions surrounding the solstice and examining how the role of narratives have changed over the last couple centuries. Many of the midsummer customs have folkloric roots, including: jumping over bonfires, hunting for enchanted ferns, prediction of future spouses, swinging songs and dances, games, and the sharing of fairy tales. Jaanipäev is celebrated a couple days after the longest day, on the 23-24th of June and is arguably the largest holiday of the Estonian Year (contending only with Christmas). All three Baltic States take this time to celebrate their pagan roots and the wildlife of their countries. I am very excited to go to a country that is immersed in sun for 18 hours a day and both learn about and engage with the celebrations.

    My plan is to fly into Tallinn and spend the first two days in the city learning about the historical elements of the solstice and meeting with 3-4 residents I've met through Couchsurfers. I have found at least nine Tallinn residents who are willing to show me the city and tell me about their experience with Jaanipäev. Couchsurfers has been such a great resource for me in this project and is aiding me in finding local research and perspectives. 

Baltic Sea, 2011

Summer Sun, 2011. Lithuania

    One couchsurfer, Marge, has been so wonderful as to allow me to stay with her and for 3-4 days we will travel with her friends to Eastern Estonia, to Muhu Island, to celebrate with the local rural communities. I could ask for nothing more than to be invited to celebrate authentically with future friends. I am so thrilled to have this opportunity. For the last couple days of my trip, I plan to continue south with Marge before returning to Tallinn. In the following couple of posts I will share some of my research and lots of photographs, so look forward to some fire hoping and camping images! 

    So at last, in anticipation of my coming travel project, below is one of my favorite, thus far uncovered, stories about Jaanipäev. Hopefully in a couple of weeks, my list will have grown much longer. 

THE TWO LOVERS

    Koit (Dawn) and Hämarik (Dusk or Twilight) are two ancient lovers of the sky. Bound together, in counterbalance, the two have been forced apart by both the day and night. Doomed to spend their immortal existence apart, they spend their time gravitating closer and further apart again. 

    But once a year, and only once, as midnight draws near on the longest day, Hämarik offers his hand to Koit as the lightest night of the year awaits. Then Dawn and Dusk exchange the briefest, fleeting kiss. This kiss marks the shortest night and the longest day, as their love pushes away the darkness. The two lovers' kiss is celebrated by the people of earth, for their love brings light and prosperity to the lands. And it is the knowledge of their returning embrace that keeps hope alive through the darkest of winters. 

Buried History, 2011

The Blue Men of the Minch

Hello Everyone! As many of you know, Katie Wright and I have been pushing our WILD OBAN Kickstarter proposal this month. In addition to our incessant begging (which will continue for just two more weeks!) I thought I'd share a couple of the folk stories originating in the Hebrides. The two tales below just scratch the surface of our research and I think shows a fascinating specificity to this Scottish area. 

If you want to find our more about WILD OBAN or support our project, please go to:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2106439633/wild-oban 

And without further ado, enjoy!

The Hag Goddess of Winter

In the undulating waters of the Hebrides there is the Gulf of Corryvreckan, which the local people called the "Gulf of the Speckled Seas" or the "Gulf of the plaid" for an old and powerful hag that lived by these waters. The hag, Cailleach Bheur, was a mighty and giant witch that all were terrified of for she could turn the waters to storms and bring death to the lands. Once a year for three days, Cailleach Bheur went to the seas to wash her great plaid before the winter season. Using the gulf as her washtub she churned her cloth for three days straight causing the waters and winds to roar a tempest that was heard for twenty miles in all directions. The first swirling waters created the great Corryveckan whirlpool that still lasts the whole year round, catching and drowning passing fish and ships. Some say the hag lives in the whirlpool as the fiercest of the kelpies.

 For these washing days the people of the islands hide indoors trying not to be caught in the witch's mad cleaning. When Cailleach Bheur was done her cloth was pure white. She then laid it over the lands to dry as it turned into a clean blanket of snow marking the beginning of winter.

• Many more tales incorporating this whirlpool exist as the hag goddess doomed many a brave prince and princess in the course of Scottish history. 

All photos taken by my partner Katie. Isn't she just awesome?

The Blue Men of the Minch

Long ago a tribe of fallen angels crashed to earth and split into three groups: the ground dwelling fairies, the "Merry Dancers" of the northern lights, and the sea inhabiting blue men. The blue men of the Minch, also known as storm kelpies, inhabit exclusively the stretch of water between the Outer Hebrides and mainland Scotland. These creatures, unlike other kelpies, look like humans only blue and capable of living underwater. When the skies are clear and the waters calm, the blue men are in a fine sleep floating on the backs just below the water's surface. But when awake, they have the power to play with winds and create storms that try the strength of the strongest ships. 

To pass the time the Blue Men play shinty when the skies are clear. When ships pass by they spray them with water and laugh roaring winds. When in a more mischievous mood, the kelpie chief, a Shony, rises out of the water and shouts two lines of poetry to the master of passing ships as a challenge. The man must shout two lines back for safe passage, but if he fails the blue men will attempt to capsize the ship and drown all the captain's men.

One of the few recorded instances of this exchange occurred long ago between a skipper and the Blue Men Chief: 

Blue Chief: Man of the black cap what do you say
As your proud ship cleaves the brine?
Skipper: My speedy ship takes the shortest way
And I'll follow you line by line
Blue Chief: My men are eager, my men are ready
To drag you below the waves
Skipper: My ship is speedy, my ship is steady
If it sank, it would wreck your caves.

The diary of the Skipper notes, the chief was so surprised by the quick responses that the blue men all retreated to their underwater caves in shame. But it was not always that a captain was so fast on their feet and the Blue Men have drowned many a young sailor over the course of history.

Shameless Self Promotion: Wild Oban

WILD OBAN: A Kickstarter Film Project
 

Delving into the faerie-seeped waters of Oban, Scotland to reveal the secrets of the mysterious basking shark.

Hello! Katie and I have been working together the past few weeks preparing our Kickstarter proposal to Oban to record the migratory basking sharks and create a short film together. After much planning, we are ready to go! Please take a few minutes to read our proposal and share it with your friends. We appreciate any and all support in helping us get to Oban and film these amazing, vulnerable creatures.

Here's the link!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2106439633/wild-oban

See our proposal video, learn more about Katie Wright and hear how we met at Kickstarter.

Thanks to 'Basking Sharks Scotland' for use of the images until we procure our own. (http://baskingsharkscotland.co.uk)

About this project

Our Project: 

"Wild Oban" combines travel, exploration, nature, folklore, and the production of a short narrative movie. We (Katie and Sofija) aim to create a film uniting local folklore elements with the real-life mystery of the elusive basking shark. We will travel to Oban, Scotland to document the island landscapes, Hebrides waters, and the basking shark. For an up-close thrill, we will even be swimming with these sharks! 

The Film:

The folkloric blue men and the rare sharks will be the film's primary content. The concept of the work will interweave notions of fear (depths/sharks/the unknown) blurred with the search for the monumental or the sublime. We are really interested in how people are drawn to the sea yet it generally is not a place of comfort. It is relatively foreign to us, incomprehensible in scale, and full of potential harm- such as drowning or predators. But at the same time the open water creates sensations of fear, it equally entices with the freedom of an open horizon and the calming sound of repeating waves. 

The end product will be a large split screen video installation. Each panel will (at the same or different times) explore the same subject matters in different tones. The consistent content but varying emotional responses will push how one can interact or respond to the same set of stimuli. Such as representing the blue men or sharks warmly or with a foreboding perspective. But in the end it will be our firsthand experience interacting with this environment and these creatures that will inevitably determine the creative tone. 

Oban's Folklore: 

Oban is a rural town a couple hours north of Glasgow, Scotland. The area, which overlooks the Hebrides islands, has a history of intriguing folklore and stories that speak of sunken ships, magical hags, and storm kelpies. One particular story (found exclusively in the Hebrides) is the that of the BLUE MEN. The Blue Men hid in the lochs and seas and are sometimes considered a type of storm kelpie. They sang lines of poetry to passing ship captains in order to test their wit. The correct answers would allow safe passage through the dangerous waters. 

Area covered in the 3 days on the water

Oban's Wild: 

The coast of Scotland and the Hebrides Islands (particularly the Isle of Coll and Mull) have abundant wild and beautiful geology, flora, and fauna. Just a portion of what we can see in this area includes underwater plant life, fish, dolphins, otters, seals, puffins, gulls and various birds, jelly fish, basking sharks, hexagonal rock formations, sea caves, whirlpools, and sand beaches. This dynamic landscape still has a low human density population that is ideal for experiencing unaltered (or less altered) nature.

With the "Basking Sharks Scotland" boat and resources we will explore Oban, Lunga and Staffa, Fingal's Cave, Mull, and the Isle of Coll.We want to explore the splendor of these waters and islands to capture footage of this less traversed area of the UK.

Basking Shark!

Basking Sharks:

Basking Sharks are also known as 'bone sharks' due to the ribcage-like structure revealed when their mouths are open. Basking sharks are the second-largest living fish after the whale shark and are plankton-eating (they still have hundreds of tiny teeth though!). Adult sharks typically reach 20-26 feet in length. Fun fact: cases of "globsters" or unidentified sea monsters have turned out to be basking shark carcasses.

These slow moving filter feeders are found throughout the world's coastal warm-temperate oceans but, due to overhunting, in many locations they are classified as either 'endangered,''critical,' or have even disappeared completely. In the UK they are considered a protected vulnerable species. Due to their overhunting, wintering in deep waters, and lack of long-term scientific research, the basking shark remains a relative mystery. These gentle giants spark the imagination through their unknown habits, their peaceful nature, their astounding size, and their human tolerance.

Why Now?

Basking sharks are believed to be migratory and winter in deep waters. That means the only reliable way to see them is when they surface during the warmer summer season. Due to water temperature fluctuations, a Scottish plankton boom in July and August draws the sharks to the Oban area as a shark hotspot.

This means we have a limited period of time per year to witness these slippery hiders!

The Plan:

Before our trip starts, we will be preparing. Fortunately we have three whole months to research they sharks  and the folklore elements through libraries, the internet, and historical, regional, a scientific museums and archives. Leaving from Newcastle on August 11th, we will take the train northwest to Oban where we will spend one night in a hostel. While on the Oban land we will be able to conduct local research on the folklore of the area in preparation for the following days on the water. From August 12-14th we will participate in the Three Day Shark Tour with Basking Sharks Scotland. Through snorkeling, swimming, kayaking, and sight seeing from the boat we will get real first hand experience with the Hebrides landscape and nature. It is also where we will encounter (and hopefully not be terrified by) the large basking sharks. This is when the majority of our recording will take place. We will shoot everything we experience with all the equipment in our arsenal including: multiple digital cameras, video recording, underwater film cameras, and sound recording equipment. The varying recording techniques will provide different effects that will be collaged together in our final film. Each day of our journey we will post updates and blog entries with the days' events and a preview photo or two so you can witness the process each step of the way. 

After the boat trip, we will return to Newcastle to review our material and create a split screen video installation. The end product will be designed for large scale installation viewing and will be adapted for computer screens so our supporters can view the work from anywhere. Yay internet!

Duart Castle near historic shipwreck hotspot

Budget:

The primary reason we are starting our proposal in March is that the wild swimming and shark tours book FAR in advance. We have secured two spots for August but we still need to cover the deposit.

Our costs include train rides from Newcastle to Oban, one night in a hostel, equipment insurance, snorkeling gear and wetsuits, the three-day tour (which includes accommodation for those nights), and art materials for photography printing, screens, and video installation.

Estimated Total Cost (without food or other living costs) £1,800. 

This cost is the minimum needed to safely get us there and complete the project. Any extra money donated will go towards better underwater recording devices and towards exhibiting our short movie in better and multiple venues throughout the UK.

Unique rock formation of Fingal's Cave

We have the details figured out and we know what we need to do. We just need your help in getting there. Thank you for looking at our proposal and please support our project.

Special thanks to:

Basking Sharks Scotland for use of video clips and images until we procure our own. (http://baskingsharkscotland.co.uk)

Lee Rosevere for use of the song "Lost Ship" (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/)

Risks and challenges

Our little team of two have calculated this project to be low risk. That said, some possible challenges may include: potential damage to documentation or equipment, weather delays, and/or health issues. We will have insurance for both ourselves and our equipment. We have full confidence this project will go without any major hitches and we will always keep everyone updated! Or we could be horribly wrong and find out basking sharks do indeed eat people and then not return to finish the project.

Thank you so much for any help getting us to Oban and with our project! - Sofija and Katie

Intimacy in Tangents: relating and uniting various interests and ideas

Intimacy in Tangents: relating and uniting various interests and ideas

    Welcome! This blog is a place to explore various interests outside of, or tangental to, my own art production. It will be a place for posts on art, literature, sciences, politics, travel, and anything of particular interest that crosses my path. Tangents, being connected offshoots of thoughts, have a bright life and curiosity to them. They can reveal what the mind finds particularly intriguing and invigorating: even if they are only explored momentarily. 

    I am open to collaborations, suggestions of topics, submissions of articles, or a quick hello and chat. Just email me via the contact page!