I feel as if the Big Run is not finished yet. It is definitely an incomplete work.
Not because I canceled the Edinburgh show, it's not that. In fact I'm glad I didn't go ahead with Edinburgh. The practice of stand-up has been useful to me in many ways, especially for freeing my voice, but after a while it can become a kind of elective tourette's. Anyway, I could care less whether I make people laugh. And I want language to be a much smaller part of what I do in the future.
So I want to do another Big Run. But this time I want to do it differently.
There are a number of things I want to change.
I think I would like to go in a circle rather than from one place to another. I want to undermine the idea that it is a journey.
And I want to keep going round the same circuit. I like the idea of repetition.
To emphasise the closed nature of the circle I'd like the run to take place in a closed geographical environment.
Around the coast of an island would be ideal.
Going round and round also has some practical advantages. After a couple of circuits navigation should become more or less automatic. And I could establish caches of food and equipment so that I could travel lighter and enjoy the running more.
The island of Arran has a coastal path which might fit the bill. Arran isn't too hard to get to and there are, as far as I can figure out, lots of places to eat and sleep. Once round the island is about 65 miles. Depending on terrain and weather that should be two or three days.
I have to decide how long I would want to spend on the exercise. I want do enough circuits to really hammer home the sheer pointlessness of it all. I really want to kill the whole idea that it's somehow some kind of "achievement".
I had thought of doing 81 circuits. The number has a magical quality that I like. But that could take the best part of a year. Maybe I should go for it. I can't think of a lesser number which has the same kind of power. Anyway, let's leave that aside for a bit. Suggestions are welcome, by the way.
The blogging was an important part of the First Big Run. I'd like to have video the next time. That would be fun.
You know, writing this has almost convinced me that this is what I need to be doing. I feel as if the decison will be made if I just click on the Publish Post button.
Well, here goes. Click.
PS (29 March 2010) I leave this here as an example of the kind of brain fart I have to contend with as part of my creative process.
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Hello,
ReplyDeletethis came to mind after reading this entry:
Damn, it won't post. Do a search for "shikoku pilgrimage". By no means a neat link to what you're talking about but it has similarities.
Video would be a good idea.
Stu
Hi Joe
ReplyDeleteJust saw you had written more. If you want to emphasise the pointless pursuit of the long distance journey why not go for some kind of "pointless personal performance" pick somewhere much smaller like e.g. George Square in Glasgow and continuously run around it..you could use a head cam and stream to a web site showing the activity which is going on around you as you run - show that life is going on when people are on a "journey" they might discover something about themself but they inevitably miss an awful lot about other people - it might also satisfy the need for performance in that I'm sure if you picked a big number/continuous run you would attract both people and meeja interest, course it would also probably drive you insane but then, thats an assumption about the nature of a journey again innit?...