A POST-RESIDENCY INTERVIEW WITH BIZ

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What drew you to come to Bubbawood at this point in your artistic career / life?

 

I felt drawn to pursuing a residency at Bubbawood for three overlapping reasons:

1.  I wanted to create work that was informed by communication with/immersion in/thoughts and feelings about “the earth” or “wilderness” or “mother nature” or how it feels to be a human physically embodied on a planet at the end of the human age, and moving through spaces that are less mediated by human design. So I thought being in the woods would help me focus on this.

2.  I was, and am, curious about/exploring how it feels to live in rural communities around portland (where I live right now).

3.  In general just having a space/time set aside just for working on a fairly ambitious project, to see what I could do sounded very appealing.

 

What was your favorite part(s) about your time here?

My favorite part of staying at Bubbawood was doing pretty much everything outdoors. Cooking, eating, socializing, working, showering, thinking, feeling, being -everything out under the oak trees. I was really grateful that for the most part the weather was so mild and there was space for me to do my work outside. I slept quite cozily inside the cabin but otherwise was outside all the time. I loved that.

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What was the most challenging part of your residency?

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I think there are challenges that arise from external circumstances (being required to do something that goes against your nature, or on an uneven playing field, or without the necessary resources etc) and challenges that come from within. I experienced relief from the former kind of challenges, and grappled happily with the latter. For instance, maybe it is difficult-bordering-on-absurd to construct an 180 piece multicolored patchwork tent out in the woods without shelter or electricity, and maybe it is ridiculous to push an entire drum set 1/2 a mile in a wheelbarrow to record a friend playing drums by a flowing stream but really once I was able to set aside the sort of boring and draining everyday challenges of my normal city life these kind of wacky and maddening challenges started to have a lot more space to work their inspiring magic. 

 

Was there anything that was particularly surprising to you about this place or your experience here? 

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I was a bit surprised that even though its at the end of a gravel road, Bubbawood doesn’t feel isolated. Kay and Scott are part of a pretty sweet community. I was surprised and delighted that when I had a problem with my movie projector the day of the event and I was thinking to myself “okay, here I am in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE (ha) how can  I fix this?” Scott called up a filmmaker friend (thanks, Sean!) who was willing to meet me in a half and hour to help me troubleshoot what was going on. That to me is still surprising and delightful example of community

Do you have any advice for future Bubbawood residents?

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Dress in layers, go for hikes, wake up for the sunrise over the hilltops, watch the stars, go for a ride on the Amtrak. But mostly just do your thing. I’m excited to see what you come up with.