Living Quarters

An approach to Art and Travelling,

We work collaboratively on a travel based art project called Living Quarters. We live in a location for a quarter of a year, so we are not tourists but travellers.

Paul Theroux, the great travel writer said:
‘Tourists don’t know where they’ve been; travellers don’t know where they’re going.’

We experience a place from the inside and we see things and meet people in a way that tourism makes impossible.

Martin Buber, the existentialist philosopher said:
‘All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.’

Although we plan a route and locations geographically, we have no idea how the experience will feel and how it will affect our minds and creative output, both on the journey and in the months and years to come.

We try to make sure we are receptive, mindful and ready to be surprised, to be led off our intended path. This is the most important lesson we are learning from our Living Quarters project.