Collaborative meeting hosted by Sarah Pogoda
Details: 11.12.2021, 11-1, in: White Box, Pontio, Bangor (The White Box is on Floor 2, next to the Studio – Event will be signposted). Pontio is fully accessible.
After embarking into the collaboration in a state of emergency yn Ynys GaFaelog November 20th, 2021, the tides will wash us ashore on December 11th, 2021 at the whitest beaches of north Wales mainland: The White Box in Pontio. Survivors we are, exploring we will do: rescues, shelters, utopias bach we might find in form, shape and imagination of rescue buoys...
The rescue buoy is a tool of survival. Therefore, the rescue buoy is related to the cultural practice of marauding (transforming into “marode, kaputt” in German). Yn Ynys GaFaelog we learnt that “marauding” was a technique of survival emerging from the devastating reality at the end of Rhyfel Deng Mlynedd ar Hugain. 30 years of war caused the long-lasting breakdown of social order, landless peasants banded together to protect themselves from soldiers of both sides. Those soldiers – released from duty, and lost in hunger, homelessness and a socialization into terror, devastated areas before moving on, leaving large tracts of land empty of people and changing the eco-system...
Founding the ephemeral state of emergency and imagination, we gathered techniques of catastrophic survival beyond marauding and on December 11th, we will bring this a step further and keep the wave rolling. When Ynys Gafaelog uncovered the wisdom hidden in the year 1684, when the usage of the term marauding was first documented for the English language, the White Box might dive into history again, and explore the survival skills emerging from the year 1940. This is the year when the rescue buoy was designed following the suggestion of Generaloberst Ernst Udet to provide shelter for the Luftwaffe pilots or crew of aircraft shot down or forced to make an emergency landing over the English Channel. But rescue buoys saved the lives of German as well as the lives of Allied aircraft crews.
Together we can ponder which designs would be appropriate for survival today? Might your mended finding from Ynys Gafaelog be of any use (please bring, if you can)? What does a boat repairing shed have in common with a rescue buoy, what are shared features of marauding and floating? Will our passports be of guidance, why are we carrying them with us (please bring, if you can)?
Some historical documents with annotations by Sarah in brackets:
A 320-foot red and yellow striped rope anchors the buoy (which is designed as womb for male crews) at a fixed location (standpoints = anti-fluxus, to be avoided), but allows a limited (transgression) drift, thereby indicating the direction of the current to aircraft (interesting phrasing: the machine is in distress, not the crew) in distress. The buoy is painted (passive voice) light yellow above the water line, and red crosses against white oval backgrounds are painted on each side of the turret.
The cabin accommodates four persons (by the way: all male) comfortably (why comfort in an emergency?) for several days, and in an emergency, the crews of several aircraft can be taken care of (friends and enemies alike?). It is electrically lighted by storage batteries (in Wales soon to be charged by nuclear power again), but in case of a breakdown kerosene lamps or other lighting devices are provided (solar panels). There are two double-deck beds and adequate cupboard space for first-aid equipment (we do not want first-aid we want final-aid), dry clothing and shoes, emergency rations (austerity), and a water supply. Hot food may be prepared on an alcohol stove. Cognac to relieve chill and cigarettes to quiet the nerves are also provided (this pub will not go back to lockdown). Games, stationery, playing cards, etc. afford diversion until rescue is effected (meaning: the rescue buoy is not the rescue!). Depleted supplies are always immediately replaced upon the arrival of the rescue ship (= thus rescue is imagined as passive and something to passively wait for).
Source: http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/ttt07/rescue-buoy.html
Please bring you passports and your finding (mended or not) – if possible. You will have the chance to add a picture and a stamp to your passport. If you have a favorite picture you want to use for your passport, please send it to Sarah by Friday 4th of December: sarah.pogoda@gmail.com