Task 1. (Miray)
Think of a material fragment in your home or surroundings. It could be natural (leaf, flower, seashell, pebble, grains of sand, blades of grass) or a man-made piece of your life (train ticket, piece of fabric, a page from a book, a playing card, a photograph). The only rule is that it has to be something you’re willing to part with and can easily send in an envelope.
Write a letter to accompany your fragment. It should include: A) Contextualise your fragment, what it is, how/where you found it, any memories it evokes for you.
B) I am sending you this because...
C) I think this...is part of something bigger. (how is your fragment connected to nature/the universe/human existence?)
D) how do you imagine entropy might affect the fragment over time?
E) Ask at least one question to the recipient.
BONUS: write a few lines of poetry inspired by your fragment.
The idea is to take this small, insignificant thing and imbue it with meaning and awe.
Documentation A) Record a video of yourself writing the letter, with your fragment in view. B) Record audio of yourself reading the letter. C) Record a video of you placing the fragment in an envelope, sealing the letter, putting a stamp on it and posting it to someone in ATP outside our group.
Task 2. (Dana)
One day all these pieces will come together - a memory from your future self.
Write a letter from the perspective of yourself in April when we will all be, of course, together again. We will all have seen each other in person. We will have a knowledge of each other’s bodies in space. What does the room smell like? Where did you get coffee on your way into Central? Or was it a tea? Were you organised? Did you leave the house on time? Or were you running late? Did you kiss anyone goodbye? Who was the first person you saw when you arrived? What does it feel like to leave the house again? What are the other mysteries of this time we can have no knowledge of yet?
This is top secret knowledge though, no-one can know you have time travelled in this way. Cut your letter up into six pieces. Keep one for yourself and send a piece to each of the Winter of Discontent. We will keep them safe until the present has arrived.
Task 3. (Chris)
Part One:
Read the Matthew Goulish article, ‘The Strain of the Ordinary’ (I’ve uploaded it under the ‘literature’ file). Make some notes.
Part Two:
Have a read of the transcript of Robert Creeley’s ‘Listen’ I’ve uploaded to the writing section (It’s only two pages). Read it through a couple of times (you can find a partner or do both parts yourself).
Part Three:
Record yourself performing this ‘rehearsed’ reading and upload the audio/video/whatever....
OR
Write some dialogue between two or more people in response to Creeley’s work....
Task 4. (Lin)
Anachronism: ‘the slippage of discrete time periods into one another’ (Fisher, 2014, p. 5); an infringement of or break in the chronological context of states or events; a juxtaposition of two things that don’t fit/belong together...
Deliberately, create a form or situation of anachronism. This can be in any form you wish, as long as it consists of two elements that are dislocated, out of joint.