I represent Everything You Fear - Dedicated to Adrian Piper - Here Comes A Wicked Witch of East

Stitching
2006-2007

Day 1
Wake up as early as possible, try getting out of the bed while still dark, hear the alarm going off, try opening the eyes. Try hard, try to open the eyes, try it, stretch one arm to the alarm clock. Search it, grab it, check the time with one eye, see it in the dark room, switch off the alarm.

Try keeping awake, try keeping the eyes open, goes back to darkness.          
Half asleep with having a feeling of being a dream, feel the light on the eye lids, feel the panic coming up, open the eyes, check the time, see the light outside, realise having over-slept, jump out of the bed. Not bothering to have a shower, not bothering to go out feeling scummy, put some clothes on, rush out of the house... cont.

Day 2
... cont.
Hear the sound of ambulance, hear the sound of police cars, ignore the sound, keep stitching, feel someone standing behind the fence, he says, “What are you writing?” I say, “Sorry, you’ll have to wait and see.” He says, “I’m only here in London for another two hours, tell me what it says.” I say, “It’ll be done in two hours, so please come back later. Feel sorry not to be helpful, see him getting upset, see another man coming closer, he says, “Are you a writer?” I say nothing, I just nod. He says, “Where are you from?” I say nothing. Both men leave... cont.

Day 3
cont... She says, “Oh, I see… I like that. Did you do the cups? Ziggy Stardust?” I say, “No, that wasn’t me. This is the second time people mentioned it today” Feel bad about not being aware of Ziggy Stardust, feel guilty about almost taking an identity of this person, see the full stop being stitched.

Walk to the other side of the fence, walk around the corner of the fence, walk a little more, take pout Red ribbon. Start stitching the second sentence, see Red going down to the ground, making a strong waves in the air, feel the wind blowing Red, feel the hands getting cold. Keep stitching, hear a voice saying, “Idiot!” See a school kid pointing at me, see him saying the same word to his friend, to the friend standing 50 metres away from him, his index finger pointing at my back. It says, “I-d-i-o-t!?”... cont.

Day 4
cont... See the fence quite far apart, see rubbish on the grass, see empty bottles next to the rubbish, try not to step on the dog shit, start stitching the first letter. See big stitches on the fence, not really sure if they are big enough, unable to decide whether to make them even bigger or not, keep stitching. See rolls getting smaller very quickly, see some cyclists pushing behind the fence, see some people walking past behind the fence, dividing two spaces. Keep stitching, hear a whistle behind the back, see big stitches falling down a little, feel a car driving past, keep stitching, keep stitching big letters... cont.

Day 5
Put a head-sock on the head, try to put the wig on, feel the wig not staying on, feel it falling off the edge, feel the hair falling out of the head-sock. Try it differently, looking like a comedian, quite fond of it, put the hair in the head-sock much neatly this time, put the wig on. Take two rolls of blue this time just in case, put a pair of scissors in a bag, try not to forget a piece of paper with the text on. See the shiny red staying on the head, ready to go out to the canal.

Push the bike, the shiny red is already moving about, keep pushing, not wanting to go back to fix it, decide to keep it as it is. See the pink in Blue, see the cloud in the sky, keep cycling, feel warmth in the air, look at the light between the clouds... cont.

Day 6
cont... Hear some voices from the other side of the fence, see two people walking together. She says, “What the fuck is this about?” She says, “What the fuck is this about, then?” Hear the voice getting closer, she says, “What the fuck is this about, NOW? What the fuck is this?” start to get a little scared even the fence in between, try not to have eye contact, try to have her in the sight, hear her friend. He says, “It’s a design thing, isnnet? …”

Hear the voices getting quieter, she says, “What the fuck is the design thing?” in the distance, hear the heart beating fast, keep stitching, wanting to say this isn’t a design thing, see the fingers shaking a little, keep stitching.... cont.

Day 7
cont... Decide not to worry, keep walking, walk a little faster, walk past the man run past earlier, walk across the other side of the street, walk over the bridge, take right to the canal. See the white on the tank, see the white-grey over the white. 

Walk towards the last stitch, see a new cross-stitch, getting confused if it was something from the last time, keep looking, hear the birds talking, look through the stitch, see the duck swimming in the canal, see the graffiti getting close to the water. Look at the way it’s stitched, not looking like the way usually done, realise leaving a long strip of blue on ‘h’ last time, getting excited about someone having to stitch one... cont.

Day 8
cont.... “Excuse me, what is it saying? ‘You the …’…” I say, “Sorry, I’m not telling anyone what it says until I finish.” He says, “Oh, OK, I see. I’ll wait then.” I say, “Thank you.” see him walking away, see a woman walking closer, she says, “Oh, everyone is wondering what it says. Now I see you doing it! but you are not telling it. We’ll see it when it finishes.” Hear her laughing, her myself laughing with her.

Go back to stitching, hear a different voice from a distance, he says, “Are you Chinese?”  Keep stitching, thinking that was what was joked about earlier in the studio, see two men walking on the other side of the fence, keep stitching, hear the voice again. He says, “Are you Chinese?” I say, “Of course, I am.” He says nothing, he walks past with his mate. Keep stitching, find the fingers not looking white this time, hear a different voice from behind, feel it moving from one side to the other, he says, “I knew you are going to finish it. I knew it.” See him walking fast, see him getting small in the distance quickly... cont.

Day 9
Decide to do stitching before it gets dark, just shortly before, not too early, not too late, try doing it in the dark. Wear the shiny red, take a bag with a roll of blue, forget about the sheet of paper with text, off you go. Feel the cold on the cheek, feel the cold through the neck, cycle with the hand closing the collar of the coat, feel the shiny red keeping the head warm, not much but better than nothing. See the white in the sky, see the darkness coming closer, feel the cold in the air, see hardly anyone on the street, see hardly any cars on the street, keep cycling... cont.

Day 10
cont... Keep stitching, see a man walking past on the other side of the fence, he says, “What is it?” I say, “you might have to come to this side to see it, but I’m stitching words.” He says, “Oh, I see. You are placing text!” see him walking past. Keep stitching, see a man on a bike cycling on the other side of the fence, see him stop the bike, see him looking at the text, see him cycling back, having question marks on the head, keep stitching. See a dog running by the canal, see the dog going in circle once, see it running back. Keep stitching, hear a voice, he says, “how far?” I say, “ALL THE WAY…” he says, “to Islington?” I say, “Well, no, to the bridge.” He smiles. He leaves. ... cont.

Day 11
cont... Keep stitching, finish Blue, tie the end of “.”, put Blue back in the bag, start Red. See Red in muddy green of the water, see it between the fence, see the dog coming closer, see it sniffing the fence, keep stitching. The dog leaves.

See the intensity of Red, very strong in the eyes, hear a voice behind. He says, “Excuse me?” I say, “Yep.” He says, “What does it say?” I say, “I decided not to tell it as it will spoil it. I’ve just finished the first sentence.” He says, “Yeah, but this doesn’t make sense.”... cont.

Day 12
cont... See a pair of children coming back, they say, “We can read only “which is the”” I say, “Wow, that’s not bad, getting close.” Keep stitching, hear the girls trying to find out where I’m from, hear reading out all the Asian countries, one of them says, “but she’s very Chinesy…” start smiling to myself, hear the bus coming, hear the rain dropping hard on the ground, see the children getting on the bus, see the rain falling onto the canal, fasten the stitching.

Getting wet again, tie the end of Red, try to take a photo, see raindrops falling onto the camera, not sure about anything, getting confused, see a group of men with helmets walking closer, one of them says, “EXCUSE ME? WHAT DOES IT SAY?” Start running away. He says, “WHAT DOES IT SAY?” Keep running, not sure if it’s because of the rain, not sure if it’s because of this man asking me the same question. Run into a corner of the building, keep away from the rain, keep away from the man... cont.

Day 13
Keep stitching, see a couple of men on a boat, one of them smiles, wave at them, see him pointing at his head. Keep stitching, try not to laugh too much, see Red almost finishing, see the bit not enough to do the dot, decide to ignore the dot. Walk to the other side of the bus stop, take out Blue, start stitching the third sentence, see the light behind the building, feel spring air blowing, keep stitching.

See a couple walking on the other side of the fence. He says, “Do you know what you are writing?” I say, “Yes, but it’s changing.” She says, “Oh, an art work which progresses…!” ...cont.

Day 14
cont... See him taking my name on a small note book, see him taking down my mobile number on the black note book, see a man in a car looking at us, ignore the man in the car, see the uniform man not introducing himself. I say, “Hold on, how do I know you are really from London Water?” See him showing his name tag, see him showing LONON WATER written on his bike. He says, “this is the right number, isn’t it?” I say, “Of course, you can call the number now and see if it rings.” He says nothing, but says, “Are you going to take photos when you finish?” I say, “I’ve been taking photos each time I’m here.” He says, “I’ll have to take photos, too, to report it.” I say, “Help yourself.”... cont.

Day 15
cont... Cycle under the railway bridge, cycle through the park, to the market, see empty stools, see rubbish on the street, see empty chairs on the street, keep cycling. Feel mist on the cheek, turn left before the bridge, stop the bike 10m before the bus stop, lock the bike, walk towards the stitching.

See old Blue changing shapes, see the Red almost none left on the fence, feel the cold in the air, take out the Blue, start stitching, see the orange light on the water, see people waling on the other side of the fence. Keep stitching, hear cars driving past, hear sound of police car somewhere far, feel clumsiness in body, feel someone standing behind, see a couple behind. She says, “Hi!” I say, “Hi.” She Say, “Are you putting some words?” I say, “Yep.” She says, “What are they? I can’t read it… e… h? oh, is it read from the other side?” I say, “No, it’s from this side… this one is “e” and this is going to be “d”…”

Keep stitching, try finishing off “d”, hear male voice, unable to catch, hear her saying … next time…, cont.

Day 16
cont... Keep stitching, decide to do the second roll, decide to say, “am I not?” if the Red is long enough, start doing “a”, keep stitching. See a man standing on the side, see “I” half done, hear a voice. He says, “Excuse me? What are you writing?” reply to him as usual. He says, “Did you do the one in Old Street?” I say nothing.

See the last bit of the Red, not long enough to do “?” mark, decide to do as much as possible, tie the end of the Red, take some photos, see most of the Red being taken away, see it all blown away, walk to the side, see most of the Blue still on, See it changing shapes.

Walk back to the bike. See a group of girls walking closer, hear one of them saying, “Oh, look, isn’t that her? that woman who did that thingy, innet?” I say nothing. Both walk past each other, hear her saying, “Which day’d she be doing it?” hear her voice getting smaller, unlock the bike, start cycling... cont.

Day 17
cont... Take out the second roll, keep stitching, decide to say, “Why not?” as the second sentence, see the big W being same size as the rest of the words, decide not to worry too much, start feeling hungry.

Keep stitching, see a couple of men walking, one of them says, “What are you doing?” I say, “I’m making art work.” He says, “It’s an artwork, is it? Enjoy yourself.” See them walking past, keep stitching, see the end of the second roll of the Red, take out the Blue, start stitching “B”, hear a voice coming from behind. She says, “What are you doing? I live just up there, I see this in the morning.” reply as usual, not really as usual, reply with crap English, too hungry to talk, she says, “Is it English?” I say, “Yes…” try to explain, too hungry to say things properly, hear her talking, reply with crap English, hear her talking, reply with crap English... cont.

Day 18
cont... See the roll getting smaller, see the word “’cause” being completed, start stitching “y”, see no more light in the sky, see the shadows on the ground, keep stitching. Hear a voice, he says, “That’s you! doing it!” I say, “Yeaaaaah!” He says, “What does it say?” reply to him as usual, stop after giving him the first sentence, almost saying, “Oh, you can have a look at my website.” Decide not to say it. “I’m not telling you. Sorry.” He says, “Tell me!” I say, “No, not telling you!” unable to do an artist talk, reply to him with crap communication skill, he says, “Oh, you are not telling me… It’s a mystery…”

See him walking away, feel bad about not telling him, shout at him saying, “I’ll repeat the same sentence!” He says, “But you are not telling me.” I say nothing, just nod.... cont.

Day 19
cont... See the light reflected on the water, see the tanks half way down, feel the heat in the air, feel the wind blowing past, keep stitching. See some people walking past, see no dogs running past, see no birds in the canal, keep stitching. Hear some voice from the distance, see a man walking closer, hear him talking to himself, see him talking to himself, keep stitching.

See a couple on bikes cycling closer, see them stopping in front of the stitching, he says, “Ahhhhh, Free Arrrrt! Not a profit art! I like it.” See him winking, see her smiling, say nothing. See them start cycling again, get back to stitching, feeling a bit too hippy about agreeing what he said, having a mixed feeling about wanting to make profit or not. Keep stitching, see the light still in the sky, see the street light not coming on, keep stitching.... cont.

Day 20
cont... See the silky Blue getting smaller, feel the slippery end of the Blue, find it difficult to tie the end, find it so precious to leave it fall off somehow, decide to tie the end VERY tight. Take out another half roll of the Blue, start stitching, see a dog stopping on the other side of the fence, see nobody nearby, keep stitching, see a couple walking closer, wait for the dog to follow them. See the couple walking past, see the dog still hanging around, about to decide the dog has no owner, see the dog start running after them.

Keep stitching, see the mild wave in the canal, see the wind blowing gently, keep stitching. See the last of the Blue, not enough to finish “w”, decide to cut the long bit off from “a”, cut the bit off, finish the last bit of “w”, still not long enough, never mind. Walk to the other side, take out the camera, hear someone singing, see it coming from above. She sings, “Whaaaat Is It Saaaaaying? Whaaaat Is It Saaaaaying?” Look up, see a head from the balcony, only for a second or two, she disappears.

Take a close shot, take a medium shot, take a long shot of the fence. Put the camera back, unlock the bike, start cycling back. Decide not to stop at the pub to say hello to friends, decide to perform as a Wicket Witch of East.

Day 21
cont... Feel a little scared to do it in dark, the hearing getting very sensitive, see the shadow of my own, see the shadow of others coming closer, start stitching. Hear some voices shouting at each other, hear some footsteps running around the basket ball ground, hear the ball bouncing up and down. Keep stitching, stitch very quickly, not knowing why, just a little scared, hands moving very fast. Hear some noise behind, getting a little freaked out, look at where the noise coming from, see a woman coming out of the building, a big relief, go back to stitching.   

Feel someone walking closer, feel the body getting stiffer, keep stitching, feel the person walking past, release the tension from the body, see the black in the water, see the moon shining fully, see the darkness in the sky. Keep stitching, hear sound of the police behind the building, see some people walking on the other side of the fence, keep stitching. See the second roll getting close to the half size, hear a voice, he says, “Are you doing a new one?” Another one says, “What does it say? I’ve been trying to figure it out all my … (life) these time…”... cont.

Day 22 - gone with the wind
cont... Cycle into the park, cycle through not many people, cycle past not many cyclists, stop at the traffic light. Cycle past the pub with not many people in, keep cycling, cycle past another pub with not many people in, take left before the bridge. Cycle towards the stitching, see no colours on the fence, see no stitching on the fence. Keep cycling, cycle past the bus stop, unable to see any stitching on the fence, looks like a different place, looks like a scene in a film, not really sure what happened.

Decide to stop the bike half way, lock the bike, decide to start stitching from the top again. Start walking towards the top of the fence, see small strips of Blue and Red, see them thrown on the ground,  feel sad about seeing them there. Take out the Blue, take a long strip off, hold it for a while, change my mind, decide to continue from the last letter stitched last time.... cont.

Day 23 - Happy Birth Again
cont... See just one word on the fence, feel a little quiet on its own, take out the Red, start stitching. See the tanks low down, see the top of the tanks at the ground level, keep stitching. See a jogger running past, see her eyes looking at the stitching, see her face looking ahead, see her running past, keep stitching. See the light getting dimmer, see a cyclist cycling past, see his eyes looking at the stitching, see his face looking ahead, see him cycling past, keep stitching...

... See a jogger running past, see his eyes looking at the stitching, see his face looking ahead. Decide not to think about it too much, keep stitching. Feel the sadness inside, keep stitching, hear a voice. He says, “Oh, Happy Birthday!” hear another voice, “Happy birthday.” See a man echoing the other man, see the man cycling behind the other man, see them cycling past.... cont.