Timesinfinity

Words: Mark Erickson

Photograph: Jordan Baylon

Like all real things, poetry is content before form.

JJ baylon

http://bodhidrama.tumblr.com/

Standing in reverie of Nature

A Creative look at the nature of Creativity.

It is divided into eight sections: The Edifice, Fooling Around, The Process, Judgement, A Parable, Digression, The Search, and The Mark.

Daily ritual @ Earthlink

A Neighbourhood Block party

Dippa Kunda.  We arrive, and of course we are early.  So we wait in the living room of a student's relatives house.  Which relative you ask? who's to say.  After an hour of watching BBC, we hear drumming. Thinking it has started without us, I ask my student if we should go out.  He says no, it's still too early, they are drumming to tell the neighbourhood that the event is about to begin.  We wait a little longer, then make our way to the street.

It's a dance off.  Before the show officially begins, the children seize the moment to practice their moves unashamedly on the open dance floor, and have their hand at the drums.  This was equally as entertaining as the main event... these kids can move.

The drums pound out a seemingly improvised yet cohesive rhythm, and the crowd starts to bounce.  The show has begun.  

Individuals shoot out of their seats, one by one, to steal their moment in the circle.  Others give praise by shoving money in the dancers mouth and clothes. This is how they gain street cred, no doubt.  Half way through we are given a cup of Baobab juice with banana and coconut, yummers.

So this is a Gambian style block party.  What a privilege it was to be there.

Basse:  Rural - Urban Shift

Rurality : The Hut

Thatched mud huts are beautiful things.  They will be built and can last for ages, but in the blink of an eye they can disappear with no trace.  

When it is decided that a hut shall be no more, the mud brick walls are torn down, pounded in to rubble, then the monsoon rains return the rubble to the soil from whence it came.  The thatching from the roof is simply thrown back to the fields, burnt, or finda second life as a fence.  

Renewal

A new roof after the millet harvest when there is fresh stalks, making mud brick during or just after the wet season when there is plenty of water available. There is a simple elegance in its lifecycle, in tune with the seasons and the harvest.  

(photo and drawing done in Basse, The Gambia)

Alliance Francaise

A sketch of my favourite spot for lunch, Alliance Francaise.  for 40D you can get a delicious plate of Benechin (Tuesdays) or Domoda (Fridays).  It's a great place to people watch and to find some quiet time between me and my sketchbook.

Gambia National Football Game:  The Gambia VS. Algeria

I have commented many times before how colourful people dress here.  Being in a packed stadium presented quite a colour palette, a chance to see all the colours seemingly meld together into one vibrant garment.  

The Gambia National team lost, but it was quite a spectacle worth experiencing.

A Bike Ride

On my way to meet students at their site.  It begins at my compound and continues all the way through Serrekunda market.  The streets are alive with activity, and if you listen close enough, you can hear children calling 'toubab!' as I pass by, and a man asking if I want to park my bike.  

Biking here is always an adventure.  I feel safe because I know that everyone is paying attention to what they're doing. You wouldn't last long otherwise.  I am constantly reacting to cars, motorcycles, people, and wheel barrows, because you can't count on them sticking to a determined path.  It's all about negotiating your path with those on the street with you, and what you encounter is never the same.  The streets have very few rules here.

Students Working on Site

Yesterday I visited a group of students who were working on a model of the compound that they are investigating.  They were working right in the compound under study, with the buzz of daily life surrounding them.  I decided to stay for a while to offer any advice, and also to witness this event.  If unsure of something, the students would go and measure what they're modeling. 

Children would come watch, elders would investigate and talk about their model.  One student looked up from their work, catching air of a conversation about history between 2 elderly women.  I wonder if it was spurred by the presence of the students.

Painting, Day 2

Painting Begins.

A time lapse video of the first day of painting the internet cafe storefront in Brikama.  Day 2 video will be up soon.  It is coming along well, although it doesn't look exactly like what I designed.  Day 3: Tomorrow.  Looking foward to it. 

A Sensory Reflection

Africa: Tactile, Audile Based.  The telling of stories, the use of hands, the importance of touch.

North America: Visual, Cerebral Based.  The immaculate image, reason and deduction.

Students lean against me as they gather around to see what I'm doing on the computer, a boy reaches out and touches my arm as I walk by because he wants to know what light skin feels like as opposed to dark. two teenage boys hold hands as they walk to school, the best of friends. I meet someone new, shake their hand, and the hand shake lasts for five minutes.  In response to a question about the age of a house, the Alkalo tells us story after story about who has come and who has gone.

I remember the door to a friend's compound in Brikama.  I think about how the places we shape around us tell so much about who we are.

Open/Closed

Store fronts here are very interesting.  This car parts shop is right next to the GTTI main campus, and when I pass by it always surprises me how much it transforms when it is open vs when it is closed.  I was made aware of this shop in pictures shown to me by Grant Wanzel, a professor at Dalhousie University. Having now witnessed it in person I can really appreciate its effectiveness. This tactic of using the doors as 'flags' is common here, and very effective. This one happens to be a prime example.   

I have been asked to design a logo and to do a complete overhaul of an internet cafe store front in Brikama. This will be a small design/paint project that will keep me busy on weekends, and will satisfy the creative 'itch'.  I plan on deploying similar design tactics as seen on the FAP building.

Design Challenge: How do you design both an open  AND a closed shop, and have it read cohesively as one entity? Stay tuned for a solution...