i like your scooter (updated)

i walked with Jack in New York..it was strange as sometimes when i walked i knew exactly what it would feel like if he was walking beside me..i know what jack's presence feels like. i imagined him on the left side of me when i was in the park. i also suddenly heard many American voices..

'you go ahead I've got the ticket'...'have we been this way'...'sure honey whatever you want'...

i was very central so a prime area for tourists, but maybe my New York connection was bringing them to my attention more than usual. i managed to wonder into Musee d'orsay on this walk, my wandering mentality meant i breezed pass security without a problem, i was invisible to them, i strolled past huge oil paintings and stone statues of women with arched backs and young men with tambourines. I know what New York looks like, so i became aware of the differences, the sky line is much lower here, the tops of buildings are not straight and the corners are curved. the shop fronts are smaller but then seem to swell outwards once you are in. many of the shops are empty, their windows are like islands of lights drawing towards them the moths of the street, but nobody goes in. i wrote Jack a postcard with no intention of sending it. I have done many of these walks with my friends in many places. I like that i am crossing places over, overlapping journeys...and just through the simple action it brings to light the connections and overlapping of people all over the world. when you see someone walking in the street they have a world of connections, pathways, places and people trailing off behind them...but we cannot see this, we can only imagine when we try. but it is impossible to do this for every walker in the street, its similar to feeling empathy for every person you see, its a nice idea but ultimately it will drive you crazy. so i stick to this simple action of walking, knowing that i am walking, and so is someone else, and that everything i see on my walk is being balanced out, merged, compared to everything he sees on his walk. i am moving tectonic plates, defying gravity, forming a new map. i can cut out new york city with my scissors and place it over Paris with some glue.

text from postcard:

i bought this card for jack - it cost one euro
in the tuleries the sun is low, i hear American voices.
people are wrapped up around the pond. They play bowls. They walk arm in arm.
The Gravel crunches under scooters. SOUPE DE LEGUMES 8,50
"and then one day..many things...fools and kings..the greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." *trombone solo*
By the Seine the grass has been worn down.
In Musee d'orsay the ceiling is curved - the lights hang like droplets.
a girl draws a sketch of this statue (sketch of statue)
I find out that the original la danse statue from de l'opera is here - the one at l'opera is a copy.
SPOTTED DRESS AND WELLINGTON BOOTS.
a piece of red tape..next to a yellow post box.
It grows darker and the show windows begin to light up patches of the street.
here the cars are the dominant sound. black poles with round tops punctuate the street and the antique shops walls are painted scarlet red.
chickens turn in the oven and Nike trainers walk in front of me.
UNDER ST.RITA's STATUE ARE FOLDED NOTES OF VARIOUS SIZES.
in the church the chairs are in rows but empty. wooden and wicker. CREPE SUCRE 2 euros
He holds a white paper cup quietly and they eat sandwiches on the steps. The fence is decorated with pieces of sellotape from previous posters.

i have become aware of how my style of writinghas developed, being descriptive, i am constantly writing for someone who isn't there. postcard writing. how can you create the image of a place, a walk, a scene, a city...just by the words you chose..the lines you make. this is echoed in my drawings, thin squiggly lines, trying to capture a place to be shown to someone later..or just as a memory, lines that will trigger the real image in my mind. my words just as my drawings, are not the complete picture, they require filling in the gaps. i think about theatre and how can we take the audience somewhere they have never been just by the lines we create - spoken, written, performed, drawn...
Paris feels particular to this topic, feeling satisfied by the city whilst frustrated by not finding the write words to describe such a place..i have constantly been asking people about paris..'that is paris' 'paris is this' 'paris is that' they say, all with different opinions but equally as sure.

'everything in this city has a quality that defies analysis but enables you to say without hesitation: 'That is Paris' - even if it is a milk can dangling from a door knob, or one of those coarse brooms sweeping up the leaves at the pavements edge in October with a sound like the sea, or an array of tired-looking volumes in a booksellers box on the embankment between pont neuf and pont royal. Why this should be so i do no know, Paris sets it seal on everything that belongs to it.' Julian Green

i went on a night walk with some friends i used this as an opportunity to make a video. i like using walks as a way of seeking out shots for the camera. having a simple action (jumping) and letting it be the place that defines it. i like how the camera is a type of selection. a cutting and pasting. i form a new map with this film, i rearrange shots...and therefore places. in the construction of this video i formed a simple narrative. the joining and meeting of people...and then the separation. i chose jumping as i am interested in peoples physical behaviour in space. how jumping in one place can be completely acceptable but taking it out of context, and into another space, the act of jumping is viewed differently (and the space) as being about effort, trying to lift off, failing, weight, humour. making this at night was also interesting in terms of light, i have noticed in Paris how some streets appear lime green or orange depending on the light...and then you have the Eiffel tower which glows blue. ultimately this video was fun to make, impulsive and part of (and the documentation of) a good long walk..

i filmed this on a my small digital camera so the quality is poor and also i couldn't rotate the shots. this isn't a complaint this is just how it is.

since i came to Paris i have been filming scooters. it started as just filming red things, red scooters are very popular. but then i discovered yellow scooters, blue scooters, pink scooters and orange scooters..i filmed them all and have formed a healthy collection. after one walk i began to think about my relationship with the city, my presence in the city. so i decided to leave bits of red tape where i went - adding to the aesthetic of the city. this then developed into leaving red bits of tape on the scooters i film. these bits of red tape are attached to a note simply saying... j'aime votre scooter...for this is true, i just like the scooter.

message to anyone who got a note on their scooter:

hello, i like your scooter. I am walking in Paris, filming and writing about what i see on my walks. i like to walk with people..i also have a dream to ride on a scooter whilst i am here...contact me h.sullivan@dartington.ac.uk. alternatively, if you didn't appreciate my note, sorry, have a nice day.

i am bored of being silent in the city. i feel Paris has made such a big impression on me that i somehow need to lean back on it or i will just fall over.