Scribbles of Caring Arts
by Fine
During our collective Caring Arts trips to Munich and Vienna, I drew a collage for each travel in a comic style. I did this in order to concentrate and keep my mind and hands busy. Also, I did so to catch memories and share them with other. This is what I call scribbling. It´s a per-sonal and subjective puzzle of my experience, shapes, colors, items I saw and memories I have. But it also is a collective puzzle as it´s the result of our common work.
I invite you to follow me through the pictures and through that into the memories of our ed-ucational travels.
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Intro: What is this?
Listen to the audio of the intro text:
During our trips to Munich in 2022 and Vienna in 2023, I scribbled. Two collages were created from these comic-style scribbles.
I scribbled during our programm of the labs. I usually do this to focus and occupy my mind and hands, but also to capture memories and share them with others. This is what I call scribbling. Throughout my life, this has been interpreted by some as distraction or inattention or uninterest, which is not the case. However, I do feel that it prevents me from being fully present and in emotional contact with the people around me. Sometimes people are fascinated and comment or watch me without asking for consent. I didn’t experience any of that on our travels. I felt like I could just do it.
For me, it’s a personal and subjective puzzle of my experiences and the aesthetics and memories that touched me and that I therefore wanted to document and preserve. But it is also a collective puzzle, because it is the result of our work together. Every person who took part in the project is somehow in these two collages. If you click on the chosen name, you will be taken to the artworks on this website of the respective person.
Caring Arts: Lab in Munich, Oct. 04-10, 2022
This is a comic style scribble from the Lab in Munich 2022. The colors of this collage are gold, light green, grey, glittery pink and black.
The background reminds of the floor of the room where we had our workshops. On the picutre, there are several stripes and tapes that seem to divide this room into several rooms. I painted various objects and pictures on it that visualize my personal memories of the lab. For example: sleeping mask, tape roll and 8 painted pictures about caring. There are also different quotes from the participants everywhere. It looks like they are written on the sticky notes, stickers or strips. The picture also has 3 frames. One frame consists of the quotes. At the top center is the larger golden text in English: Caring Arts. Below this is a smaller black text in English: Lab Munich. Underneath is the date of the lab written in small letters in blue pen: Oct. 04-10, 2022.
Listen to the audio of the text about Caring Arts Lab in Munich:
Fine narrates:
The sleeping mask with the word “Welcome” is a reminder of RC’s rest workshop. RC sewed them and distributed these masks for us. It was very thoughtful. I was quarantined in the hotel and also got the mask. I enjoyed the workshop online and I especially remember the welcome mediation, inspired by „Our Songs, Our Medicines – Curatorial introduction“ by Alessandra Pomarico, Esther Poppe, Yayra Sumah and Maya V. El Zanaty. RC invited us all into the room with anything we wanted to bring. I remember a thought I hadn’t thought before: Rest is not only activity, but also a method.
That day there was also a game to name 7 things. For example: one person can ask you: “Name 7 things you like to eat”. Kira shared this game with us. Kira learned it from the blind performer Amelia Cavallo.
During one of Stone and Michaela’s theater workshops, Kira did a performance with the roll of tape. Kira stuck pieces of tape to the floor. They were repetitive movements. Kira did it slowly and carefully so that the sounds of the tape were not loud. During this workshop we experimented with the theater methods and had to rethink a lot of things. I wrote down two quotes from this workshop: “How can we be in the same rhythm if our bodies and minds have different needs?” and “Being or doing something together doesn’t mean being or doing the same”.
I think these questions are like the frames of our lab in Munich. They are the result of our exchange about the fact that simultaneity and uniformity of activities are not accessible to everyone. But it is expected in theater methods and contexts.
Miri did a dream journey workshop. This dream journey was an accessible path to an accessible exhibition about care. We imagined that we were walking through the exhibition. Then we could paint our experiences or share them in another form.
Some of us painted the pictures we imagined in the dream travel on the theme of care. We then shared our pictures and thoughts with each other. It was a very nice way to make the personal and political connections to the topic of care. If you click on the links, you can experience the image descriptions for Fanny’s picture and my picture.
We started every day with meditation. Some people closed their eyes. Some didn’t. If I remember correctly, I wrote down these 3 quotes: “1 minute of silence”, “There is no silence in my head” and “When you turn down the outer volume, the inner volume goes up.” I tried to visualize these words. I drew two speakers: one with the note “outside” and an arrow pointing down and one with the note “inside” with an arrow pointing up. Around it is a fire with a dog in a hat. The dog is sitting in a wheelchair. This is a reference to an internet meme in which the dog sits in the middle of the fire and says: “I’m fine.” In hindsight, I think it was about the world being in chaos and on fire, especially after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We’re sitting in the middle of it and trying to keep our heads up. Especially because many participants have very close personal and political connections and were very emotionally and physically affected by the events.
The topic of emotions and feelings also came up later in the week. It´s represented by a wooden box with 3 stickers on it: “Fragility”, “Safe container?” And “How do you explore your feelings?” One person in the group said this in relation to a theater method about feelings. The same person then wrote a note or poem in the group chat that I really liked: “Feeling wants to be felt without judgment. It doesn’t want to be named.”
I wrote the word “repeat” several more times: “REPEAT. REPEAT. REPEAT. REPEAT. REPEAT.” The lab was a lot about repetition as an art form and anti-ableist practice.
When I remember myself during the lab, I remember myself in a furry hat with antlers. I had somehow gotten this hat during the Lab. I wore it a lot, even though the sun was shining. I also remember the slogan “Dinos against repression”. That was the slogan of a solidarity party for a Kurdish comrade. I and some other participants attended this party.
Then some of us also visited the exhibition “TO BE SEEN. queer lives 1900-1950”. It was the exhibition about the LGBTIQ* movement in Germany. There was an egg-shaped plastic sculpture in bright pink and silver colors. This sculpture could be placed on a tableau and this launched a video and audio about a queer personality at the time. It was an impressive collection of historical material. However, we also had a critical view on the accessibility of the exhibition and wished for more intersectional approaches and practices. This was also a starting point for the idea of making our own exhibition. It is this website.
Caring Arts: Lab in Vienna, 10-16.09.2023
I have painted various objects and graphic elements on a white background. These are for example: Stim Toys like a tangle or a cuddly toy octopus. Tangles form the moving elements or lines that divide the page into different segments. The 3 thick curvy lines in black, green and silver are the tangles. They are drawn through various parts of the collage. I also painted a lot of gold-colored curved shapes because they remind me of our relaxed space. That’s why I also painted a laptop and Dunia, who provided beanbags. The collage is about our workshops, presentations and exchange of ideas. That’s why there are lots of quotes. At the top left, the blue text is written on a pink cloud shape: Caring Arts Lab Vienna, 10-16.09.2023.
Listen to the audio of the text about Caring Arts Lab in Vienna:
Fine narrates:
In the second scribble collage, I tried to visualize our lab in Vienna.
I remember the stimming workshop by Kira and Nastia. They brought lots of stim toys with them. For example: tangles, stair hoppers, cuddly toys, glass beads and other things to make bracelets. Kira and Nastia handed out little fabric bags with tiny foam balls inside. This was a gift for all participants. I still have it with me every day.
It was a room where stimming was allowed. We dealt with the question: “How can you organize a space where different actions are welcome at the same time?” Someone said: “The current system only supports productivity.” Fanny created a bracelet with the letters “It is ok to be sad” as a reminder. That’s why I drew a cloud with tears falling from one eye. The stim cuddly toy octopus is also a toy that has both sides. It can be turned over. It can have a smiling and a sad face.
An important thought from the workshop was also: Stimming is healing.
Ziliä did a presentation on felt art for us. I remember a felted high heel shoe with claws and a quote from Ziliä: “You have cheap oil because our land has been colonized”.
Stone led a theater workshop about setting boundaries. Many quotes from the participants have stayed in my head and heart: “Often I don’t ask for support because others are not good at saying no.” Or “Sometimes saying NO means trust and caring.” That’s why I painted a stop sign with the palm of my hand with a heart on it.
The entire lab was hybrid, so that the participants could also take part online. This was also because one person was not allowed to travel to Vienna due to repressive government regulations for refugees in Germany. I painted a laptop and a moment that shows breaks in the hybrid communication: At one point, the laptop reported “You have been kicked out of the conference”, to which someone responded with “Thank you for setting your boundaries”.
One person also shared their talk “Living with Autistic brain in late capitalism” with us online. I remember “Autistic nesting”. It is a practice of creating a personal, comfortable and safe space or environment that provides sensory comfort and a sense of security. This appealed to me because it is what many have also been doing during the week. There seemed to be the need to have a pause button. Meaning: to be able to represent our desire for a relaxed environment. One person shared, “This space is like a break.”
During our online calls and our labs in Vienna and Munich we used the practice of self-description. I wrote down this quote: “Self-description is a practice of the blind community.” This practice, which the blind community developed, creates the connections between queer feminist and disability practices. Self-description empowers you to determine on that day what you want to share with this group of people about your name, appearance, gender identity – generally about any aspect of yourself. Rather than giving other people the opportunity/impossibility to make assumptions.
Lena led the workshop on critical nail care. While painting our own or other people’s nails, we talked about care, reproduction work and shared a lot of thoughts about political aspects of care such as workers’ rights and gender aspects as well as personal stories and experiences on this topic. Someone said: “If you work in care, you don’t have a Sunday off.” In the scribble, I drew nails in yellow, white, purple and black. Those are the colors of the non-binary flag.
I remember the T-shirt Kira was wearing. It said: “Crip Resilience is Nature’s brilliance”. It is a statement by the BIPOC queer crip performance collective Sins Invalid.
During the lab in Vienna, we had many discussions about working in art and theater institutions. Someone said: “Ableist norms are perceived as professionalism.” For me, this stands for the necessity of spaces like ours, where it is possible to make art without having to adhere to ableist norms. And this is no less professional. It makes the art of many people possible.
About the author:
Fine
The picture shows small pieces of orange peel that have been cut off. Next to it is part of a pair of scissors. The orange peel has a rough surface with small bumps. The smell reminds me of winter, coziness, holidays and summer at the same time.
I like cutting orange peel. When I eat an orange and there are scissors or a knife on the table, I cut the peel into lots of little pieces. Then I let it dry for a few days and play with it with my fingers and then throw it away.
If I don’t have time or don’t have scissors or a knife, I throw them away straight away.
I cut orange peels when I’m in group meetings, sitting at the table with friends and flatmates or talking on the phone. It helps me to concentrate and keep my hands busy.
