tim

Ethan pointed me in the direction of your experiment. It’s been an interesting read. It’s nice to be able to live vicariously through someone else’s journey in the wild. I love living in Brooklyn, but every once in a while I get the overwhelming urge to get lost in the woods somewhere for a while.

Good luck with the journeys up the mountain and in grad school. Kate and I are planning a visit to Colorado soon and I hope we can find some time to catch up.

Todd

In regards to your question about your hip. It sounds like an impingement problem. This occurs with hip flexors contracting both up and down the mountain with little relief. If you can stride down the mountain and get some extension, this would help. Try to stay loose when coming down. If this is difficult then lay on your stomach when you get back and prop yourself up like a kid watching TV. Hold that position for l5-30 min. and use ice on your flexor if possible. It is normal that one side is affected because we are dominate on one side.

Keep the faith. You are admired and your parents are obviously very proud of you. Take care, Anne.

I have never done a durational project like your Mt. Sanitas before, but as I read, my own individual moments of clarity and minor revelations came flooding back to me. My favorite experiences have been those that occurred in full public view, but remained my experience alone. I wonder how significant it is that someone felt connected enough with you to share a great story and a bewildering experience? Will a moment like that one prove to be the gem of this project? Or will it be most significant that you experienced pain, emotional release, spiritual connection, or weariness? Regardless of the relationship between these entries and your art I enjoyed reading them. If no further artistic employment occurs, perhaps you will find this to be a wonderful device for clearing mental and emotional space in which to make your work. Or, if it becomes concrete, perhaps it opens opportunities for others to share their own lived durations.

I’d hate to recommend a book you might have already read, or worse yet a book that is being released as a movie, but have you read John Krakauer’s “Into the Wild”? There is an interesting bit about the character finding resolution with his past just at the moment when it is too late to come back from his physical trial. And another element I found poignant was a story Krakauer related about himself. He speaks of dissatisfaction in his relationship with his father. To combat his feelings and somehow address and solve his problems he takes on the impossible physical task of solo climbing Devil’s Thumb in Alaska. After nearly losing out to unfortunate mistakes, he realizes this adventure he has set himself on has and could never do anything to change what already existed before it. As far as he might have come, both physically and emotionally, his problems with his father remain unchanged. I don’t know how or if this might be significant to your experience, but it fascinates me that we humans can be so quick to take on more powerfully painful and difficult challenges than what would result from our confrontation with real specters.

Good luck!
Endure.
Mike

Why is coffee a gremlin? I can make you a killer bow and arrow weapon out of a rubberband and a paper clip to take on that monster tomorrow! It worked for Gizmo maybe it can work for you! Good luck fighting your inner demons. See you around the studio.

Tyler