Last December Pols, an artist-run space in Valencia, invited me to undertake a 6 week project on the food commons and anitcapitalist resistance in the city. Thanks to a small bursary from the gallery, lots of encouragement and a wedge of luck I made it over. The project will develop organically during my stay as I meet different practicioners, historians, and biologists, and explore the unique food landscape shaped by public and private land in the region. I’ll organise a few public workshops and meals along the way, and there may be an exhibition to conclude.
Alongside my free journal, I’ll be posting more in-depth texts detailing my research behind my paywall, so I really urge you to chip in a few quids if you fancy following that along.
I’ll also give you access to one at random if you want to make a one-off donation to Ko-Fi or Paypal.
Thanks for reading regardless :)))
Images this week are all from youtube
Mon 23 Aug
Tues 24 Aug
Yoga on the roof, spent so much time in shavasana I nearly fell asleep. Prepped a quick coffee and munched a peach before therapy. Interesting session; feeling calm and appreciative, making good headway with behaviour observation and trying not to embody emotions fully.
Jogged a few laps around Parc Central again (I really need to try going in the eve instead as it’s far too warm for me): young families frolic in the shallow pools, dogs bite fountain jets, a couple practice capoeira next to a boombox, an athletic man enthusiastically thrashes his children at badminton. Still shocked by the different attitude to shared spaces here, total immersion, minding-own-business and respect for each other.
Binged series two of “Stath Lets Flats”, sent a few emails, then realised I hadn’t moved in five hours and took myself off for a dusky walk. I went without my phone, so no idea what the buildings were, but I think it was the “Arts and Science” zone at the southeast end of the Turia basin park: big, macho, post-modern, curved glass, hashtag-selfie light installations, a smattering of public sculpture, and security officers on segways. I sat with my back to most of it and read more of Naomi Klein’s incredulously clear and succinct writing on climate denial and political greenwashing.
Videocalled Hugh after eating leftovers for dinner, stood at the window to watch the flashy storm and welcomed the breeze. Explored earthminusenvironment.org, a fab project by Verity Birt and Lauren Keeley pulling together eco-critical texts from writers, curators and scientists, and was struck by Gustav Metzger’s writing. In particular, this passage in his essay “Nature Demised Resurrects as Environment” scratched an itch:
“People suffering from fear and anxiety grasp for support. It was at this point in the early 1960s that the supermarket expanded in Europe. Here was a mechanism that reached out to millions, offering, if not solutions, then at least a helpful hand in reducing anxiety. Then what is more comforting than a large cornucopia where all one’s needs are laid out within grasping distance? The very fact of outstretching to one’s needs and desires is therapeutic.
The element of choice, too, is a soothing factor. The mere knowledge that this storehouse exists is a relief. The supermarket is the surrogate for walking in forest and now bending to pick berries, or lifting one’s hands to pluck fruit from a tree or hedge. The supermarket brings us back to our origins thousands and tens of thousands years ago. Reaching and grasping, and then stuffing into a pouch, accumulating on the way to the exit.
If the supermarket is the surrogate of the walk in the woods, is it a replacement for nature? If some of the human motor activities are given an outlet – searching, locating and collecting food are realised in supermarkets – then the answer will be yes. If some of the activity that we used to perform is indeed fulfilled, the need for the larger environment – the forest – is reduced. The absence of nature is made more bearable. We have gone through an adaptation to city life.”
Wed 25 aug
another day entertaining myself, starting w some stretches on the roof. I figure if I do this every morning topless for like 20mins I will not feel stiff and get an even tan.
Lunch - running out of combos of millet, onion and eggs > must go shopping. Pot of wild fennel and rose petal tea. Watched some Spanish language youtube videos including 2010 Salvem Cabanyal civil uprising, and 1980s horta farming documentaries. Was able to glean some peripheral vocab and lock in the central tenets of community struggle against urban expansion and gov corruption.
lots of faffing and moving of things (as per) but didn’t let it stress me, just entertained it with some light drum & bass and some intermittent reading. Finally got out the door at 1709 and walked to Cabanyal through the Truvia park. Creamed up and sat on the flat, sandy beach reading. Almost got sad I had to apply suncream to my own back then decided it was outweighed by where I was sitting. Got in the sea: warm, wavey, windy. Did a Mr Bean underwear trick, then zigzagged through the tiled streets to a tapas bar. Practised some new phrases, despite the server speaking to me in English. Accidentally ordered enough crisps for four humans, however I maintain there has never ever been a portion too big for me to scoff. Tomatoes, sweet white onions and baby olives came, swimming in homemade vinegar and seasoning, followed my a single sardine on hard toast with a blob of aioli. The good, organic ingredients do so much work, they only need a light touch to shine. Metro home and a gin yuzu cocktail before bed.
Thurs 26 Aug
Nothing really happened until I took the apartment bike out for a spin, east towards the Science Centre and other post-modern glassy testicle buildings, then along the length of the Turia Basin. Reached the bioparc and found a dead quiet spot to sit, read an essay by Silvia Federici and George Caffentzis about the commons and intermittently practice some Spanish: mostly fruit and vegetables, numbers, weights and deictic instructions like “move here”, “go there”. Nestor from Pols touched down in the afternoon – we had some tapas and beers in Benimaclet, where he recently moved – I cycled home the way I first came.
La caja - box / crate
Llevar - to carry
Yo puedo llevar la caja - i can carry the box
Aqui - here
Alli - there
Pesado - heavy
No es pesado - not heavy
Mas - more
Menos - less
?Puedo ayudar? - can i help?
Dejar - to put down
Nostramos llevamos ocho cajas de frambuasa - we carry 8 boxes of raspberries
Elevando - lifting
Accionimiento - drive
La coche - car
Trafico - traffic
Ocupado - busy
Sat 28 Aug
Super early yoga on the roof, then a run before it got too hot. Had late brunch of fried plantain and fresh tomato on buttery toast, then visited Pols space for the first time. Super interesting history of the building, an old (and potentially illegal) textile factory, with a carpark slope going underneath and a network of pipes moving waste water around noisily. Nestor describes it as a “digesting centre” which I really like! Will play off this feeling when I start using it for building next week.
Once I’d cycled home again, I felt so nauseous I had to sit down for the rest of the afternoon; I’d overheated, which is perfectly logical and quite common, according to Carles, particularly if one cycles around the city in the middle of the day. Most Valencians apparently do very little between 1pm and 5pm and I have learnt my lesson. Will restructure my days oving forwards. Met up with Carles and Andreu for a small beer, and talked about the looming Falles celebrations and our independent journeys to labour decommodification.
Sunday 29 Aug
Bright start, get out the house before it was too warm. Cycle to pick up Carles and we head to the Campanar area on the other side of Turia basin. We congregate for a quick coffee next to a local architect’s studio then start the process to erect an alternative Falles structure. All composite parts are stacked neatly, including:
Prefabricated timber archways of increasing size and painted white
Poured concrete base weights in timber moulds, with leaf impressions
A 6 step staircase
A rhomboid-shaped stage
Timber batons for horizontal spacing
Black-painted panels for a billboard
A yellow scaffold tower
Mostly heavy lifting, moving, measuring, unscrewing, hydrating, stabilising archways. The structure is thoughtfully designed in local materials and collaboratively built, a perfect community-driven retort to the populist, polystyrene characters that are currently taking over the city.
For lunch, someone brings homemade paella (I might have tasted some chicken liver) and Carles gets me a beer. I say thanks to everyone and cycle back south to watch Spurs beat Watford on the big tv in my flat, then put ice cubes on my eyes and read some of my book in the park.