As promised, here is an update on our wild clay ventures. Over the past weeks leading up to our Open Studios with Leonardo@Djerassi, a group of us processed the collected materials from the riverside cliffs. This was an exercise in patience. The raw clay material had a significant amount of redwood tree detritus mixed into it, so we added water to bring everything to a slurry. This took several days and many buckets! We then filtered all of the material through a 60 mesh screen. We then let the clay settle to the bottom and poured off excess water.

Rob Jackson, Sanna Fogelvik, Anthony Acciavatti and I went on a little hunting expedition this past week. We went hunting for wild clay at Djerassi. Rob, Sanna and I were interested in doing some personal experiments and artworks with the clay while Anthony was interested in exploring the creek where we would be searching. We set off to the nearby Harrington Creek where we had been advised clay was most likely to be found. A first spot was a bit sandy and dry. A second spot was located that looked more promising. Rob then rounded a corner of the river bend and found a clay-rich area for harvesting under a redwood tree!

Yesterday was our first full day at Djerassi. Danny Goldberg took us on a hike in the mid-afternoon. We departed from the Artist's Barn and walked a loop trail.

Along the way, we stopped at the many different artworks made by previous residents and Danny explained the botanicals along the pathway. The poison oak was especially evocative, with its many forms, shape-changing along the trail—from light green matte semi-translucent leaves in wispy singular growths to thick dark green oily leaves in tall dense bushes to bright red leafy lines.

A little bit about the first performance of the "Harmonic Roots Series" we presented last night in the Artist Barn - with Sebastian Perez and Dasha Lavrennikov .

The following are a selection of the wishes for the future generated by audience members who attended my performances of Between the Wish and the Thing at the Boulder International Fringe Festival, August 18-26, 2017:
 

I wish for the earth to be more green and have more whales.

I wish that he could be free.

I wish to learn how to dance.

I wish to find the perfect hat.

I wish for you to have less worry and less pain in the body.

Even the gophers struggle

Tunnelling in dense caked dirt.

Fissures grow deeper

Widening the space between the plaques of dry brittle grass 

The matter straining, stiffening,

As each molecule of water evaporates.

Paralysis holds the nutrients in place, 

Greedily restraining what tries to grow.

Dig, plant, nourish,

Listen, prune then flourish. 

Remember. 

We need some flux 

For anything to thrive.

The following are a selection of the wishes for the future generated by visitors to Djerassi's Open Studios/Open House event on July 16:

I wish we/I could learn from our/my past mistakes!

Stability and diversity for all.

I wish my sister could find peace and self love.

I wish that Donal Trump would become impeached.

Honey bees flourishing in all their glory.

I wish for whole-heartedness and insight, for wit and detail, for connection to others.

I am making a dance that asks the audience to imagine the future.  The following wishes for the future were generated from my personal studio practice with dancer Elizabeth Chitty, as well as in collaboration with the other Djerassi Residents:

I wish that everything was not so expensive.

I wish I wasn’t afraid of the unknown.

I wish for a future where everyone moves their body.

I wish I had a better relationship with my Dad.  I wish I actually knew him.