Chapter 8: Coming and going

After a Christmas rather warm with family, I'm back in London. The city received me cold and rainy which was much less pleasant than the last time. It was nice to be back in Barcelona for so long. For long I wanted to spend as much time as possible so at some point I could say "I've had enough." This time was a bit like that, so I felt I had chosen the exact time between not getting tired but having had enough.

I arrived on a Friday at midnight and did not get through the door until past one in the morning. The next morning I took the phone and my laptop and I got in touch everyone I could, sending emails and making phone calls to let them know that I was back in the city ready to work. I also reminded the artist Mick Stephenson that if he need it help I was volunteering. It turned out that he did need it. We worked for two hours that Saturday but it started to rain too much and we had to leave until Sunday. From Sunday to Wednesday we worked nonstop for hours. And all this for what you may ask? Because we were doing an installation for Lumiere Festival London. During this time I met his team with whom he works often, luckily we got along and I didn't mind working late after class.

(Slide 2 and 3 are our work)

But the festival ended and I found myself with too much free time and little work. I managed to have two job interviews that went pretty well. They were as a technician in two different theaters. But there are not many shows going on which makes me think that probably I won’t work before I leave.

We keep going with the classes. We are about to finish so there are the typical end of year / semester presentations and papers. I guess if you're reading this you will be interested in what I do with my life and therefore I should perhaps mention that I found what my practice as a Lighting Designer; I want to find a way to create lighting that reaches audiences beyond the staging. I want to find a way to send the subliminal message that comes with any work. To do this I'm reading about anthropology of performance to understand the social, collective, psychological settings. Then go into the history of lighting because it is a design that has not always existed because its tight relationship with technology. Finally, I will return to the basics of theory. To understand the why of some things. Obviously when they teach you Lighting Design they explain basics, for example color theory, but if I want to go beyond staging and reach the audience I need to develop the beyond basics.

And in the upcoming weeks I should be preparing for Erasmus, although it complicates things, is one more experience so I am trying to be positive. And then when I come back I will have all the time in the world to work. In August I have plans with a friend to go on a trip to Europe so if you read this and you're home outside Catalonia should speak ;)

Tuesday is my birthday for the first time since I was 12 I have not planned anything.