Proposal call 3 - First draft

Call 3 – Sited/off site working
Jess Young

PROPOSAL. 150 words max

“The idea of using nature as mirror and measure. It’s an understanding of oneself through a knowledge of what real, not imposed, limitations are... Inner geography is a plain knowledge of oneself, a kind of common sense gathered through repeated exposure to distilling experiences. Inner geography maps peace of mind in the world as it is and not as I imagine it.”                         - Roni Horn As an artist regularly working both collaboratively and independently outside of the studio in order to feed into my practice, I am aware of how intrinsic it is to my work and state of mind to escape and change my surroundings, and the sense of power that comes with having a lifestyle and a physical vessel that allows me to do this. I now wish to explore my relationship with my vessel – my body – at a time of change within my practice, and take this period of transition as an opportunity to cleanse and ‘make new’. By physically applying a sentiment that I wish to shed to my body, and then cleansing myself of this in the ocean, a psychical connection will be made, and a path cleared for the future.

PLAN. 100 words max 

Myself, along with two other artists from studio 11, will shortly be taking a journey to the Gower in Wales – a new place to me, however with family and sentimental ties- where, with their help, I will perform this action. As artists who I trust to sensitively and accurately interpret my intentions, they will be aiding me by writing on my body in charcoal – a natural substance – and taking documentary photographs of my performance. This action comes from a desire to make connections with present environments, as opposed to past or fantasy, and acknowledge my relationship to a physical entity that belongs solely to me; exploring identity and attachment in a way that is unfamiliar.

REQUIRMENTS

The resulting documentation will be a collection of photographs.

GCOP200 'Repetition in The Everyday...' - The Artefact -

GCOP200 - Repetition in The Everyday and Archival Art Practice (-or- 'My Sad Life')

(Graphs missing)

Repetition in the Everyday and Archival Art Practice

I manipulate how I am willing to be perceived. This varies from person to person, relationship to relationship. There are some things that no one knows, and there are some people that know nothing. Everybody thinks that they know more than they do, but some people still know too much.

Currently my practice is largely made up of collecting and arranging information as a means to remedy the despair and disorientation I find in my surroundings. I like to assume that this is a universal syndrome, and we all do what we can to make a connection with our environments, however, I acknowledge that this is something that I continually struggle with, and my art therefore often serves as a system that allows me to connect in my own way. This often results in my art being somewhat escapist and rambling, which isn’t necessarily an issue, though merely masks the problem at hand.

This artefact forms part of an ongoing documentation of my life, specifically, certain elements of my life that I regard as significant. I reached a point where it seemed valuable, if not necessary to begin to track my behaviours in order to prevent actions or traits that I deem damaging or superfluous, and so designed a key onto which I could project my thoughts and feelings, and at the end of each day assign a numerical value to various aspects of my behaviour.

This is a direct response to my artistic practice, which often revolves around the archiving and collecting of information, and my fixation with pushing myself and ‘running at maximum efficiency’; the awareness that something is wrong, and my search for a remedy for this dissatisfaction and displacement. Adopting a pragmatic approach to this is another way for me to order and compartmentalize my life; to take command, and fix what I perceive to be broken. Georges Perec describes these feelings absolutely in his piece; Notes Concerning the Objects that are on my Work-table:

I tidy my work-table quite frequently... It most often corresponds to the beginning or end of a specific piece of work; it intervenes in the middle of those indecisive days when I don’t quite know whether I’m going to get started and when I simply cling on to these activities of withdrawal: tidying, sorting, setting in order.
                                                                           (Perec, 2008, P.44. My italics)

Perec describes a need to ‘sort out’, reorder, re-evaluate; a need that particularly comes at the end of something, as though reclaiming a sense of security after a departure from routine or direction. This is an experience that I can not only associate with, but which I see as a direct metaphor for my current attitude towards life; a desire for order and system.

This project is challenging and unusual to me because I am giving away elements of myself that would normally be kept very much private. Compiling these elements and information into graphs and statistics however alters this fact of sharing, seeming less personal because I am presenting myself in a purposeful and pseudo-scientific manner, allowing me to disassociate from the information that I have collected. If I turn my emotions, and my behaviours and rituals which I find negative into something clinical and separate from myself, then it’s less difficult to share, not only because it feels less a part of me, but because it will be received in a different way; in theory, less to do with other people’s emotions, and more directed at their scientific minds.

Parallels can then be drawn between this study, and between my actions in ‘real life’, once again behaving in a way that is controlling and manipulative. As such, the information that I compile and present can only be assumed to be incomplete, because it is made through a process of selection, and according to criteria designed by myself with the full knowledge in mind that this information will be seen by others.

That being said, however, the information that I collect is still framed within a scrap-book/diary format- the mode of documentation that came most naturally to me. I am reminded through this object and the information that I select for it (this goes beyond graphs and statistics, also collecting fragments from books, found objects and additional lists and thoughts etc.), that what I am archiving is my own life, and what I’m keeping is a daily diary of thoughts; a realisation directly conflicting with my desire for depersonalisation (possibly another symptom of my want to escape). I think that it is because of the informality in my process of recording information - daily moods and thoughts - that this is the form that I adopted to present said information. It is a system that allows me to include points that in a more rigid framework might be overlooked or excluded.

This set of criteria has not been selected consciously in order to impress or control; my principal motivation in this study is to better understand my actions, and recognise patterns and areas in need 

of improvement –in order to run at ‘maximum efficiency’.

This taxonomy falls in place to capture my inefficiencies and failings, and replace them with behaviours that I can confirm to be advantageous. This has been approached by tracking my mood and productivity (the two elements of my life that I believe to be most important for ‘maximum efficiency’) (Fig. 1), and then within that, repetitive behaviours. (Fig. 2) It is then possible to examine the effects of these behaviours by comparing them to the averages for both mood and productivity, and discern whether they are beneficial or damaging. (Fig. 3, 4)

I see a relationship between this systematic approach to studying my own everyday, and several other artist’s endeavours, for example in Sophie Calle’s ‘Hotel’ (1981), I was struck by the certainty with which Calle knew exactly what she was and was not interested in recording; in Annette Messager’s books and albums, particularly in the division of her personality and creating different personas to accommodate each aspect, and Mary Kelly’s ‘Post-Partum Document’ (1973 – 1979), specifically ‘Pre-writing alphabet, Exergue and Diary’ in which she makes connections and forms statements based on the patterns she finds in her child’s learning behaviours. These are artists who have recorded and dissected everyday life with a sense of humour, and a fascination with the banal or overlooked.

Annette Messager particularly interests me in this area because her work is so focused on documenting and archiving, and on challenging reality through her Collection Albums (1972 – 1974) which describe a person who may or may not exist. She creates a narrative through collections and records, building new memories and truths; ‘Like collecting, writing is a way for Annette Messager to appropriate the world and to project herself into a fictional character.’ (Messager, 2006, P. 12) She is able to build an archive, the contents of which dictate the character that they belong to, e.g. Practical Woman, Trickster, Collector; the album becomes the character.

Although my study is based on truth and honesty, what I am doing in my own way too, is dissecting the everyday; a research project into the ‘significant banal’; a mission to find out exactly how integral to my life and behaviours each seemingly trivial, everyday element is; tracking this cohesively and coherently in order to visually and mathematically demonstrate the effect of these everyday occurrences. As time goes by and I collect more information, I am able to synthesise and make assumptions based on the patterns that emerge.

By using this model, I can, for example, determine that eating excessive amounts of porridge has a positive effect on both mood and productivity; however lack of routine has a negative effect- particularly on productivity (Fig. 3, 4); this might prompt me to eat more porridge, and maintain a consistent routine throughout my day. This however does not mean that mood or productivity levels would necessarily sit above or below zero to be defined as positive or negative, but that they would be above or below the general average.

One of the biggest issues that I have with this system is the previously mentioned problem of selection and archiving; “The problem of making the everyday meaningful in a way that doesn’t imprison it at the level of the particular.” (Johnstone, 2008, P. 85) How can I claim to be documenting the Everyday when I am being exclusive with it, and assigning certain behaviours or activities greater value than others? By dismissing other, less repetitive elements to my everyday, I cannot propose to be creating a full and accurate archive; and by being selective, am I taking away the everyday-ness from the everyday? Does my very particular and incomplete process of selection impact the information to a point that it can no longer be defined as relevant?

It is undeniable that during this study I have determined patterns in my behaviour, and it would not be possible or practical to record everything. The system of selection that I have used has been created based on personal experience and known patterns in order to maximise the possibility of collecting valuable data; so perhaps this is enough. My primary motivation is to create a model for myself that is useful and comprehensive, so being particular with my categories has been key for recording information with greatest efficiency. As time goes on, my criteria will evolve and expand to include more thorough guidelines for documentation. The varied categories for data collection as well as the knowledge that this is an ongoing project which will go on to encompass more elements of my everyday, I believe, lessens the impact of selection on this project and its identity as an investigation into the everyday. 

Another element to, and another purpose for this study is to track my withdrawal, and the behavioural and physical effects of suddenly ceasing to take prescribed medication. I began this project on my first day without said medication as a way to ‘keep track’ of my behaviours, and any ill effects of ‘going cold turkey’. This seemed important for my health, and as another way of taking command of my life and actions; taking back this element of control which until then had been with medical professionals. In a way, this has been about reclaiming power and banishing what I perceive to be weakness, so this need to improve my ability to work and live comfortably has, in part, been about fighting back and seizing control. It seems necessary for my work and my life to have complete command, and I feel regaining this gives me greater security and conviction in my art, which is so often about hunting and finding resolution, and most significantly, about knowing myself. This artefact, this book, as it exists crystallises a difficult period of change and transition. It can be preserved either as a symbol, a reminder of hard times, or more preferably, be regarded as a hopeful talisman; an ablation, and a souvenir of times past; An object of strength and renewal.

As well as this, I am also eager to know and have confirmed for myself that by doing the wrong thing, I did the right thing. This confirmation comes in observing the rhythms of my behaviour, particularly my moods, after the initial withdrawal, levelling (Fig 6, 7), and the patterns of my mood and productivity beginning to associate and flow in harmony (Fig 5); a result that is both pleasing and reassuring.

Throughout this project I have maintained a desire to be as candid as possible, and have been happy to share my artefact and my findings with anyone who has asked, though initially explaining little so they could take what they would from the object. I’ve been struck by how interested and how supportive people have been about what I’m doing. I think this is partly, as is human nature, slightly voyeuristic, but I also feel that this enthusiasm comes from the sympathetic acknowledgement that what I’m doing isn’t that easy, and that what I’m striving for is change. The element that people have been most interested in however, has been in making connections, just as I am; reading through the book that I am compiling, and comparing my notes to the graphs and charts that I have made. I think that there’s a fascination to be had in reducing life to a formula, however simplistic.

My final point comes in relation to a piece in Kaprow’s Essays on the Blurring of Art and Life (2003); Art Which Can’t Be Art. Kaprow properly acknowledges the act of brushing his teeth for the first time, and is led to the conclusion that the majority of one’s actions go unrecognised: “I began to suspect that 99 percent of my daily life was just as routinized and unnoticed; that my mind was always somewhere else; and that the thousand signals my body was sending me each minute were ignored.” (Kaprow, 2003 P. 221) If an autonomous action such as brushing teeth can be recognised, then perhaps every unremarkable event, once realised, can be deemed spectacular, and it is here, in the acknowledgement, that the boundaries between art and life, the everyday and the remarkable, truly dissolve.

Highmore, B (2002) The Everyday life Reader. London: Routledge.

Johnstone, S (2008) The Everyday. London: Whitechapel.

Kaprow, A (2003) Essays on the Blurring of Art and Life. London: University of California Press.

Messager, A (2006) Word for Word. London: Violette Ltd.

Perec, G (2008) Species of Space and Other Pieces. London: Penguin.

10/04/2012

Good coffee with almond milk

Instant coffee with no milk

A spider

Sharing blue raspberry bonbons in the car

Unrecognised landscape- ‘Where are we?’

Carry On marathon

Familiar places

Repeated pilgrimage

The comfort of Laugharne

Rain, rain, and rain. ‘Well we are in Wales.’

Toast and jam

Worn old sandals sticking in mud

Dogs, not cats. ‘He’s so... licky...’

No phone signal – a relief

Long drives, Wales, to the North, to the South

Backseat passenger with paperback

Service stations, Irn-Bru

Things to look forward to

(Places planned)

Shared

Family

And new family, too

Tired and happy to be back at home with cats and socks and almond milk

Call 1: The Lift Gallery - Report

Call 1 – The Lift Gallery

The Artwork

Being on the curatorial team for Call 1 – the Lift Gallery was a valuable and rich experience, and became the focus of this call for me, as opposed to the work I submitted for the Gallery. I deliberately proposed a piece for this project that I knew I could work on both within the short timeframe, and while also being a part of the curatorial team. The piece revolved mainly around reading and research which made it something that I could work around other commitments.

The benefit of working in this way was that the research I carried out and the resulting work was so directly linked to my current artistic practice. I like the metaphor of seeing my working practice as a big box of things, or ingredients that I can choose an element from at any time to explore and play with. The ingredient that I chose for this piece was the fascination that I found with the moon during a recent project – The Big Walk – which I could further explore and expand upon; the method of presentation/medium i.e. wall-based montage seeming most appropriate for this area of exploration.

Curating

I found the task of curating the show as part of a team very different to how I had expected. I discovered that a lot of the work was in organisation and communicating with the artists and other curators as clearly as possible, a task that was not always easy.

As the member of the team who was sending t he majority of the emails – a job I was happy to do – I encountered several problems in communicating with other members of the group. I think several people felt that emails were impersonal and that they should have been addressed personally regarding issues/things that needed to be resolved, however, despite these issues, I still believe that emails are the most efficient and professional method of communication, and to try and track down everyone that I needed to speak to would be impractical and unnecessary, especially as we all keep different timetables.

I am aware that there were some issues that could have been resolved; particularly if there had been more time to work on this project, which unfortunately there wasn’t. For example, the decision to make flyers to advertise the private view was made 5 days before the private view, which included a weekend. We made the decision to design the flyer and get it out as soon as possible in order to best promote the event and the exhibition, which mean that it would have been impractical to involve other members of course, as a response was neither guaranteed, nor likely.
This decision led to me putting a note about one of the artist’s pieces – which was one of the few interactive/’live’ pieces in the show – on the flyer which she had not approved, and which left the artist feeling uninvolved and upset.

If the artist feels that her work has been misrepresented by the comment about her piece in the flyer then this is very serious, and a definite oversight on my part. Because of time constraints it just wasn’t feasible to run the flyer by her and expect a response in time to get it out by Monday morning, and this led to the flyer containing a comment that she hadn’t approved. In hindsight I understand that the correct decision in this situation would have been to make no comment about her work at all. In my desire not to offend the artist by leaving mention of their interactive piece out of the flyer, I made an error of judgement and advertised her piece in a way that I believed was appropriate based on the artist’s statement, and hearing them talk about their piece, which left the artist feeling, rightly so, angry about her work being misunderstood not only by myself, but by anybody who sees the promo.

The actual curating/arrangement of the show was an enjoyable, interpretive and intuitive process, which I think particularly worked well working as a group, because, despite some disagreements, it made discussion and compromise necessary and interesting. The space was very small, and an unusual area to work with, which again inspired compromise and prompted us to rethink and arrange work not only considering the pieces relationship to each other, but to the space, and coming up with some unconventional positioning. This process was an interesting comparison to the curating of The Big Walk show in the Lobby gallery; a different kind of show in terms of content, but the same in many ways; too much work, too little space; work of a very varied nature; awkward gallery space – stairs, doors etc... The results, despite a few to-be-expected hiccups, was satisfying, and for want of a better word, seemed to ‘click’.

I think that the issues we encountered after the fact of installing with regards to artists’ feelings towards the placement of their work is possibly an inevitable reality. It’s my belief that we were all considerate with the work, and personally asked each artist to attend the install at allotted times in order to discuss the placement of their work, but ultimately, decision making is the role of the curator.

It has been my intention throughout to conduct myself professionally, and efficiently. There has been repeated mention of the curatorial group not addressing other members of the group/discussing new information in person, however in order to work on this project as efficiently as possible, time has been of the essence, and it has simply not been possible to discuss projects/issues individually or in person. The students that have had issues with their work/equipment have been contacted my email and the curatorial team has devoted time to, and done their best to resolve any problems, and it’s my opinion that emailing has been the most appropriate format for this kind of communication, if not the most personal.

GCOP tutorial 29/03/2012

Tutorial w/Sally + Jason 29/03/2012

Jas: Have you got the essay?

Jess: I have, but only on paper.

Jas: I’ll read that while sally has a look at the artefact. What’s the title of it?

Jess: I have no idea yet.

Jas: This is great. So, you need a title. That’s the last bit that you need to worry about, it’s something that you can think about over Easter. This is great; what you’ve done is completely synthesised the relationship between that (artefact) and this (essay). Full of... although it’s about yourself, full of loads of supporting material that backs it up, which is a really good way of working. You’ve got your Harvard under control, which is great. You make a nice conclusion.
Okay, I might just think about this word... you say cagey?

Jess: Defensive, suspicious... stingy?

Jas: Because throughout this is actually really well written academically... cagey just doesn’t seem to fit. Fits on the everyday, but not on this.

Sal: I think there’s a language essence to it, which is good though. I know it’s hard to do it in an essay, isn’t it?

Jas: Oh no, this is wonderful.

Sal: I think words like cagey are interesting.

Jas: Okay, leave it in!

Sal: Oh no, I’m not disagreeing. In the context of the way you’re writing this, words like cagey have to be framed... we can allow it actually because there’s a language that you’re using... I’m just looking through, but the way in which you’re making your notes. There’s kind of an intentional way of critiquing that language, coming through it. Do you understand what I’m saying? And I think that’s quite interesting; it’s not accidental that you’re using that word. So, I think, it’s a little bit creative in that way. So it’s just the framing of it really, but it exists because it needs to.

Jas: I mean the writing is brilliant...

Sal: Because you’re not the only person who has diaried their life as an art practice. But the way that you’re critiquing the language as an art practice is inherent, through this. I think that’s interesting. I think you should celebrate that. This is great, these diagnostics there.

Jas: So this starts on...

Jess: About a month, maybe 5 weeks ago.

Jas: As an artefact this is lovely. Really, kind of, looking at, say, people like that... that notion of what Perec says, about documenting the little things. Until the plane falls out of the sky, you never notice the plane. So the idea that porridge makes you happy, you know? I love the materiality of it as well, the fact that bits come out. I would leave that in.

Jess: I think there is an aesthetic to it.

Jas: But the aesthetic is nothing without the academic material, and I think that’s really strong. What did you think of Sophie Calle when you looked at her?

Jess: I just think that she has such a sense of humour. I want to read more, but I didn’t get a chance; her book is always out! She’s very popular.

Jas: I don’t know if you ever saw the one she did on ‘exquisite pain’? It’s the one where she’s detailing the breakup of a relationship, but before and after. I think you need to look at that, I think you’ll love it. Not for this, just for yourself. You don’t need any more for this, you’re there. But yeah, that’s one you really want to check out, I think. Or the one that she did where she basically got an email dumping her.

Jess: And she shared it!

Jas: And that was brilliant, that kind of intimacy...

Sal: Jess if you’re asking questions; there’s a lot of questions in here... as long as you tackle them. I haven’t read down... but if you do in any piece of writing, if you do raise these concerns or niggles or issues; take them on. Or if it’s not going to be tackled right after, say ‘later’. Try and answer your own questions, because they’re really good questions.

Jas: It doesn’t need anything else really, does it?

Sal: The way that the writing is linked to the artefact is really solid. Just take them on.

Jess: Well I need to go back and polish and edit.

Jas: Don’t polish too much!

Sal: Don’t trim out the good bits.

So the things that I need to do to finish up my essay are:

Title it

Reword ‘cagey’. I’m not happy with this either. It came as part of a shorter segment that I wrote and pasted into the essay, and it doesn’t sit write. Reword and reconsider entire conclusion which was written very quickly.

Questions. I thought I had answered any question I posed, so if I have, I need to make it clearly that these are the point that I’m addressing, and if I haven’t, I need to go back and tackle them.
Add dates to references.

The Gower; Finding location

Big Adventure to the Gower; Decisions decisions

Kensa: This hasn’t been opened, I’ve been saving it. It’s been on my table, I keep going past it, ‘do I do I?’ but no, I’ll just wait.
So first thing is where? Isn’t it.

Didge: Wherefore art thou Gower?

Jess: I think probably the key is water isn’t it. And we need to be near enough to the sea that we can swim in it.

Didge: It’ll be interesting to see what we choose and how it looks.
Wow, look at the colours!

Jess: That is a good map.

Kensa: So that’s the main road... There’s a nature reserve there.

Jess: A nature reserve, and water, and a beach there!

Kensa: And a lifeguard station!
So what we have to be aware of also, is how busy... bank holiday weekend. There’ll be people.

Ew
Ew!
Quite.

Didge: It’s really beautiful isn’t it.

Kensa: They must be rivers.

Jess: Spidery... so that must be marshes mustn’t it?

Kensa: So it might be kind of...

Jess: Smelly...

Kensa: And muddy, sandy. Not beachy sand.

Jess: So what’s orange; is that beachy sand?

Kensa: That’s beach, yeah.

Didge: That’s where I’ve been before I think; only because we went surfing there.

Jess: What was it like there?

Didge: Lovely, it was absolutely beautiful. Sand dunes, there were lots of sand dunes.

Kensa: Is there a campsite there?

Jess: ‘Bracken, heath, or rough grass land.’

Kensa: Yeah, so you’ve got dunes. Is it big enough to be able to hide in, I wonder. Lose ourselves in. And woodlands.

Didge: I would say that because it’s a surfing beach, I don’t know how strict they are, but I should imagine that they are... there are people camping here because of the surf. And they probably have a look here for people that are camping... or they don’t! They just accept that it’s a surfing beach and can’t control it.

Kensa: There are lots of footpaths, aren’t here.

Didge: Is this like, rock?

Kensa: Must be. You’ve got woods here as well.

Jess: There are footpaths, but there’s not really anything at that point, is there?

Kensa: So that’s miles... oh right, so it’s not a massive area that we can explore. So it’s explorable before... we can kind of have a scout around.

Didge: I quite like the fact that here’s a wood here. I mean it’s not very wide...

Kensa: Woods would be good though, wouldn’t it?

Didge: What kind of land is that?

Kensa: Moorland? Mead Moor?

Jess: ‘Access land and woodland areas.’

Kensa: You’ve got all that as well, that’s ‘access land, boundary intent’. So it’s a mixture of... It’s open.

Jess: And it’s near the wotsit.

Kensa: So it’s not far, is it?

Jess: Near the beach, near a stream. And it’s not farming or anything, is it?

Kensa: No, I think it’s like, a bit like Dartmoor, don’t you?

Jess: Well that would be perfect, wouldn’t it?

Kensa: It would because I think this might be a bit public. We can get ourselves lost more. There is... oh, the Gower way.

Didge: Right, so this is it. Well, it looks like there’s a proper little walk there

Kensa: And there’s going to be lots of rivers, streams... There’s a well there, waterworks...
Oh that’s springs, aren’t they?

Jess: must be! It’s the start of those streams isn’t it? Well that would be perfect if we could be near a spring.

Kensa: And there are going to be places where we can park up.

Didge: This is a mountain, isn’t it? And it’s a... is it a Cairn on top? Is that a rock?

Kensa: A collection of rocks.

Didge: maybe we should head there... to the top of the mountain, pitch our tents!
Freeedommmm...

Jess: Well, I mean that area has got water. It’s a couple of miles from the sea which is kind of perfect. It looks like it’s not private land...

Kensa: but big enough to lose ourselves in.

Didge: Well that’s the aim, to lose ourselves.

Kensa: Park up somewhere.

Jess: Disappear.

Kensa: We’ll have to find our way back sometime... probably.
We need somewhere to park. There will be somewhere, we’ve got these little towns, they’ll have parking in them.

Jess: There are always lay-bys on those roads... I don’t know what the rules are surrounding them

Didge: Well there’s a telephone.

Jess: Useful.

Didge: I quite like the idea of heading towards the telephone.

Kensa: We’re going to come from up there, aren’t we? So that’s Swansea bay.

Didge: Is this Swansea down here?

Jess: Swansea is this sort of... collection. Which is where Dylan Thomas is from. And where Angela is from.

Kensa: look at this, Gower way or whatever it’s called. I wonder where it starts and finishes.

Didge: Oh my god, it goes all the way through Wales to... where? Where’s that?

Kensa: I don’t know, kitchen corner. So I wonder where it starts.

Didge: And what’s this; is this another surf bay?
I think the wind will be coming this way, won’t it?

Jess: So we’ll probably be quite sheltered.

Didge: If this is the place I was before it is quite sheltered... There are lots of sand dunes.
How do you pronounce that?

Jess: Llanelli? I hate Welsh.

Didge: You’re such a funny welsh person...

Jess: Only by blood!

Didge: ‘It’s just the blood!’

Kensa: ‘It’s only in my genetics!’
I’m interested to know where this goes...

Didge: What kind of pathway is it?

Kensa: ‘Recreational route’... Much like the coast path around Cornwall, it’s marked like that, isn’t it?

Jess: That must be what it is, like an official walk.

Kensa: So you reckon here? So we’re going to come from up there, and work our way probably down here, only the B road, and that goes right through... Or we can come down here and find something along this way.

Jess: Either way, it doesn’t look too difficult.

Kensa: Yeah, I mean there might be places along here where we can park.
So from here... Cillibion?
And that’s on the B4271.

Didge: B4272, A4118, A4216, A483, and then... Junction 47. Oh look, backwards!

Jess: So that’s how we get back to England!

Kensa: So which road is that one?

Jess: M4?

Kensa: I’m just seeing if the whole thing has got a name, like that one?

Jess: Cefn Bryn?
Gosh, well that was easy.

Kensa: So we can go anywhere there, we’ve got all these footpaths, all these places to find our way through and around./

Jess: We’ve got woodland, and we’ve got the beach.

Cefn Bryn ahoy!