CITIES & THAT – 1

A short while ago, the Doing Group decided to bridge the physical gap between us once more and see what could be made of our coming together that doesn’t always come together apart. After having enjoyed last year’s February Finland jaunt we decided that once again we should wish to be cold and uncomfortable outside, spurred on to seek creative refuge in some previously abandoned compound now used for education. We raced to Berlin, desperate to take advantage of one of our group’s new living arrangements, and to put the fun in functional living.

Coming from across the globe to sit in this room, we spend much of the time in silence. Sometimes we move, sometimes I feel like the movement is not necessary anymore. You sometimes say something and then we talk about it. Variations on this theme continue for some days. Occasionally we look at phones and sometimes we lie on the floor. Sometimes we stay longer. On one occasion someone was rather stand-offish that we hadn’t vacated the room ever so slightly sooner. I have no time for people like this but I imagine someone somewhere does. At this point in time, I have nothing to reveal about our process or what we talked about. That’s not to say I am hiding anything, I just feel it’s unnecessary to say anything but that there were a lot of thoughts produced.

In the evenings, we turn these thoughts over and over in our heads, twisted together like some philosophical pretzel, revolving like a gyro, never-ending or beginning until, abetted with cheap pints, it is suddenly picked clean. Is what is left worth holding on to, or was it the journey there that should be cherished, regardless of how much attention we paid it at the time? Thankfully, it doesn’t matter too much. For once, we are wonderfully pointless. No deadlines loom over us, fast-approaching an occasion to let you see what we have done. We have nothing to show you yet, nor do we actually feel obliged to ever have anything to show you. But I think we should like to at some point.