site notes

Arrived in Portugal on Wednesday... Visited Lugar Comum today with Alexandra and Andrea, (who just arrived from Denmark). Helio and the staff at Lugar Comum are really engaged with the project. They are providing a locking room on site with internet access where tools and equipment can be used and stored, though the ruined chambers of the steam shop itself also have electricity.

The site is very curious and hybridized-- a historic landmark building with a modern techinicolor kid's playground abutting it. All around are mainicured gardens which have at points invaded the ruins themselves, introducing another element in the mix of references. Also on the grounds are a museum, cafe, restaurant, children's book store, greenhouses, concert hall, university nearby .... The walkway behind the ruins has been stabilized since I saw them last year, with a rustic wooden railing and park benches at intervals which may suggest, once the project is underway, something of a zoo of artists, where one can walk along and observe the artists in their "natural" habitat. Can this be played with...

One question we discussed today was the nature of the public we will try and engage with-- the random public who go to Lugar Comum to stroll the grounds, the art going public, who go due to the project's publicity, and/or the inherent audience of the center's gardeners and administrators? How will the public complete our work beyond the role of spectators?

Also, we visited the house that is being rented in Colares for some of the travelling artist to stay in-- very nice. Looking forward to long dinners, long talks, and tall bottles of wine under the pine trees outside!