New York City, Central Park

The children play independently on the lawn. It looks like a class from a nearby school. Third or fourth grade, perhaps. One boy stands apart from the games next to a large tree. Each foot rests on a tree root where it joins the trunk above ground level. There is a space between the roots, so each foot has its own root bump supporting his stance. He leans backward so his back presses against the bark of the trunk.

He stays like this until three boys join him at the tree. They are playing tag. The other boys approach him and touch the tree.

Then all the boys return to the grass to resume the game of tag. The boy who was standing by the tree is “It.”

May 10, 2023

Correspondence: Several boys and a large tree are participants. Correspondence is framed by boy one and the tree, and three other boys who join the boy with the tree. All the boys touch the tree. In the game of tag, the boy who is “It” chases the other boys, trying to transfer being “It” with his touch. The boy with the tree disengages and joins the other boys in playing tag. The boys are active and laughing.

Interiority: I feel empathy for the boy alone with the tree. I notice his back is pressed into the bark of the tree trunk. His feet are standing on exposed tree roots. I wonder what he experiences through this contact with the soles of his feet and along his back from his shoulders to his hips. I imagine him to be relaxed and at peace. What was it like to leave this connection with a non-human tree, and begin to chase the other boys in a game of tag? Beginning quiet and still, then becoming active, chasing the other boys, trying to tag them.

Two young women walking towards me on a wide walking path. This is the first example of Walking and Talking as correspondence.

They move quickly. Their shoes land on the asphalt paving with energy that moves up their shins. As they walk, they talk in loud voices, projecting sound around their moving bodies. They laugh excitedly, responding to one another. The correspondence is through their verbal exchange sidewise, their forward flow of energy leaves a wake of stillness behind them.                                                            

May 10, 2023

Correspondence: These women are like a bundle of energy moving down the walkway. They gesture widely. They speak loudly with verbal bursts. They seem to blend together energetically.

Interiorority: This is a video I made about The Gates – a massive art installation in Central Park by Cristo and Jeanne-Claude in 2005. The correspondence is between the lines of the installation and the long pathways that wind through the part. The correspondence is reflected in the pathways. The soundtrack captures voices as people walk and talk as they move through.

83^rd and 2^nd Street, NYC

I am sitting at an outdoor table sipping tea. A class of school children pass between the table area and the tea service kiosk. They walk in pairs, holding hands. I would guess they are in pre-school, 4 or 5 years old. They do not move quietly. They talk with their partners. They call to friends who are walking with other partners. A jabber of sweet young voices radiates from the double line as it snakes down the sidewalk.

May 11, NYC

Correspondence: So young, and already walking and talking, filling the audio space with vocal sounds. Unconcerned with being overheard. Feeling present with one another. Moving as a unit like a large centipede.

Interiority: I admire how at home the children feel, moving down the street. Children occupy space in public areas, claiming it with their bodies, converting it into an extension of their interweaving selves.