s a l o n d e l p o z o
a r t b y d i n a d e l p o z o
–––––––––––––––––
d r a w i n g s
s c u l p t u r e s
s t o p m o t i o n
t e x t
c v
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Homenaje a Borges
No one heard her disembark her bed in the unanimous silence of the night, no one heard the echo of her bare feet on the wooden floor. But in a few days, she thought, her name would be heard in every corner of this forlorn village. The purpose that guided her was not impossible, but exhausting in its scope. She resolved to draw a poster for Multiple Personality Awareness Association: 13 interconnected boxes, each representing a different personality that inhabits the mind of an affected individual. Her drawing, reminiscent of Picasso's early cubism, was supposed to be her masterwork, the ultimate proof of her artistic talent that, thus far, has merely deemed her a maverick among friends and family members with stable jobs.
She diligently researched the signs and symptoms of the disorder and ended up developing genuine compassion with the patients. After all, vicissitudes of her profession and the need to survive in the all-too-competitive art world demanded constant switches between various identities. She embarked upon the project with zest and idealism. At first, her lines were chaotic: she splintered tips of Japanese pens, perpetual vigil strayed her eyes. Gradually, she got accustomed to her creation. Each perfectly geometrical box now housed a somewhat distorted, yet adorable creature. The only thing left to do was to sign her work. She outlined a square in the lower right corner of her drawing and wrote her initials. With relief, humiliation and terror, she understood that there she was, the 14th imaginary construct in someone else's mind.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Pilmigrant.
(blend of pilgrim and immigrant)
Pilmgrant is a traveler perpetually searching for new holy land to immigrate to; or, alternatively, has converted the search for this self-promised land into its life-long modus operandi. Pilgrims are tenacious vagabonds who feel nowhere at home. Torn between nostalgia and displacement, they dream of magical landscapes that may or may not exist. Pilgrims make it their lifeís purpose to peregrinate, meander, infringe upon and colonise new spaces around the globe, all in hope of finding the new Canaan where they feel at peace.
Pilgmigrantsí lexicon is contaminated with words of apology and gratitude in every language they brush across. They hoard foreign ìsorriesî and "thank yousî: sooner or later, these pardons, gracias, shukran, izvinite will come handy when they express gratitude for the hospitality and excuse themselves for leaving so soon.
Pilmigrants are racked with all kinds of guilt. They try to make peace with those who grew to become ìothersî in their past as they jump into intimacy with others in her present. They speak many sundry tongues, but not one of them without an accent. They are an ever-composing and ever-disintegrating tower of Babel; a Legoland of phonemes and parts of speech. They are always misread and always misreads.
Pilmigrants are notoriously apolitical. Their political inquires are reduced to critical questions such as why Americans eat oysters and not snails, and why Germans shave their genitals. Pilgrims value freedom above all, and hate every word that starts with a prefix re-: return, restoration, recovery, retribution, rebound, relapse. Consequently, they vehemently hate Ulysses, the very concept of antibiotics and romantic love. In contrast, they are big fans of monstrosities and imperfections. Their most cherished ideals are Don Quixote and Eminem, Che Guevara and Baron Munchausen,
Pilmigrants do not age in a traditional sense. The process of their maturity is a mild transition from light to shadow, from speed to grass, from High Baroque to naked minimalism, from RevoluciÛn ahora to mon cul, suka, maÒana. Due to the constant psychological self-Peterpannment, Pilmigrants deny the passage of time and engage in habitual activities, regardless of their physical and emotional changes. Therefore, Pilmigrants are prone to developing severe health conditions, not limited to premature inebriation, acute post-dramatic syndrome, seasonal digression, etc.
Pilgmigrant is a writer. The kind of writer, who writes herself into an imperfectly-stitched novel under the duress of deadlines. The process of her writing, and her modus operandi in general, is similar to eating French fries with chopsticks or Labskaus with grapefruit spoons. Wherever she goes, she follows Stanislavskyís method of stage performance with capricious success. Her voice is constantly dubbed into another language, translated and hyphenated ñ since no single tongue can capture what she means. Her writing, her language, her way of life are always imperfect.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––