Lowri Evans

My Latest Book, Words and Pictures from Brazil

2012-01-23T13:36:00.000-08:00

It's a real page turner! It is called 'The Secret Life of You and Me' based on my recent time in Brazil with a person I love.

For Kate

2011-12-14T05:54:00.000-08:00

I seem to only write when I’m in another place. Well I’m back in Brazil after some 400 days away. Anyway, it’s back to business blogging wise for the next month.

The first few days have been epic like the mountains that I’ve been flitting around, with elephant highs and lows (Brazil is the perfect country to have an affair of the heart in, by the way) (Also I will warn you right now this a post about love, not about a country).

Being with someone you love again. Ridiculous, rushing reunions that ebb into real life in waves of relief and disappointment. Being apart for long periods of time means that you have big gaps of experience that sometimes need filling in and sometimes don’t. Sometimes what you both imagined was in the gaps isn’t there at all.

So there you both are, constantly re-navigating a sprawling sea of two lives in a puddle of a month, in two languages you both don’t fully grasp, trusting that the other one is still searching for the same thing you are.

Maybe this is true of all relationships. Little leaps of faith in gaps of misunderstanding.

I’m making a book whilst I’m here too, a document of time unravelling.

Love, Lowri

Depicting a Love Affair

2011-08-25T16:15:00.000-07:00

I dreamt that all my relationships would look and feel like this all the time:

Yet they always look and feel more like this:

Have Your Cake

2011-08-25T14:28:00.000-07:00

I performed a new piece of work called Have Your Cake at Kraak Gallery, Manchester for Maria and the Gay's album launch. It was a 5 minute experiment about a phone call to my mum. The piece involved me tricking a man into marrying me and explored the failure of big celebrations (and maybe, actually, the celebration of big failures). It did end up with cake all over myself, and I know it's dangerous territory (female performance artist covered in cream, again) but I knew I had to be in order to tell the audience a small, sad thing. People listened in a way they only could if you'd really embarrassed yourself. There's definitely things in this that I want to revisit!

For more about Maria and the Gay click here
For more info about Kraak Gallery click here

Resonance of Seclusion

2011-08-25T14:23:00.000-07:00

I am embarking on a new project with a new company. In October, Small Things will present a performance called The Resonance of Seclusion at The Whitworth Art Gallery. It will tell the real and magical story of Leeds artist, Joash Woodrow, who for nearly fifty years didn't stop painting, at home, brilliantly, furiously, on anything; and how his work nearly ended up in the skip, but through lots of twists of fate, is now considered one of the great British artists. Here's his brother Saul who has been helping us with the story.

Keep up to date with this project here

The Life and Death of Eggs Collective

2011-08-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

June and July were taken up in the company of the barmy, brilliant Eggs Collective. A cabaret about life, death and survival, as much as a cabaret can be. It was great being amongst clever women. I got a lot out of being directed (by the amazing Rachel Brogan) and realised the fun you can have cutting between being yourself performing, and a character performing. I took on the role of a disaster seeking air hostess, but really it was me talking about how I don't know what I'm doing with my life, and how it isn't any the clearer for having a long distance relationship or being a freelance artist. My character and me were up in the air!

For more about the Eggs Collective, click here

Show and Tell Then

2011-08-25T13:50:00.000-07:00

This summer I had a proper holiday. Normally I end up working summers, because there's more children on the loose, and we tend to keep each other out of a loose end through the medium of youth theatre. But this summer was different. I went to visit my friend in the Middle East and my love came to visit me from Brazil.

Me and Kat in Jordan, my freckles had a field day:

Me and Rodolfo in Wales, the picnic blanket became a cape:

Sorry, It's Been The Summer Holidays!

2011-08-25T13:49:00.000-07:00

I will post interesting art things I've done next. For now, this is me on holiday!

Walking around Manchester

2011-06-12T16:30:00.000-07:00

I've been busy babysitting. Along the way, me and baby Michael have seen protective Geese, peeling paint, shop signs, derelict spaces, red bricks and VERY Victorian back alleys. Pushing a buggy is a good way to explore places: noone looks at you suspiciously and you tend to wander about. I rediscovered Manchester.

Posters Where I Live

2011-06-12T15:58:00.000-07:00

Beautiful posters have found their way onto the notice board in my flats. They make me very happy!

This about general housekeeping:

And I might enter this:

My Grandfather and the Internet

2011-06-12T14:59:00.000-07:00

This is my grandfather, Evan Davies. He is eighty-nine. He is learning how to use the internet. This week was a real breakthrough- we managed to have a Skype video call. My grandmother is in the background. She was thrilled. I like trying to explain what the return key is, or practicing on the mouse, or watching his hands typing for the first time in his life.

Working with Rainer Ganahl

2011-05-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

Watch the video I made for Rainer Ganahl's current solo exhibition at Bury Transport Museum as part of the Text Festival. I am reading a part from Friedrich Engels' The Condition of the Working Class, about an area of deprivation in Manchester in 1842 known as Little Ireland, on the handlebars of a bike in 2011.

For more information about the festival click here.

Would You Like a Cup of Tea? The Video

2011-05-16T05:24:00.000-07:00

Some clips from the performance on Saturday. Thank you to Amy for filming, and the tree for getting in the way!

Landscape Stories

2011-05-15T08:12:00.000-07:00

I made a giant map of the Lancashire Hills for Sonia Hughes' schools project. The chidren presented a performance on the 6 metre by 4 metre map, after folding it out. Landscape stories looked at the past, present and future of the area the school children lived in.

Would You Like a Cup of Tea?

2011-05-15T07:50:00.000-07:00

Last night I performed a new short site-specific show on a piece of wasteland in Manchester City Centre. Eighteen people showed up in a gap in the rain to sneak through a fence and watch. It is my first experiment in what I hope will become a series of solo shows. This first explored permanence, time and memory, whilst making a cup of tea against the odds.

Look Who's Back!

2011-05-15T06:36:00.000-07:00

After months away, I am back, blogging my life and work. Over the next few days I'll be updating my pages. Stay tuned!

Being Back

2010-12-14T15:02:00.000-08:00

I have been home now for a few weeks. I have been wandering / wondering around my old haunts in much the same manner as I did when I was far away in new surroundings. Working out where I fit in. And what to do next. I'm living out of three suitcases and the camera's in one and the lead's in another, so there's no pictures for this post. But I have this one picture of a steamed up bus window in Rusholme that says something about a man called Tony and he's been in my thoughts ever since.

A Tale of Two Breakfasts

2010-11-28T14:30:00.000-08:00

Paris, Wednesday

My favourite invention in the world, the pain au chocolat. I remember when I tried my first one. I was ten and on holiday in France. I was so overwhelmed by the taste, I had to sit down.

Munich, Friday

A pretzel with holey (not holy) cheese. I thought to myself, what a week of food and travel. I have been on tour with my band, Hotpants Romance this week. To see about that you can look here. The tour was cut short because one of us was ill but it did mean I got this:

Shrewsbury, Sunday

A veggie sunday dinner with my mum!

My Last Photo in Brazil

2010-11-22T03:36:00.000-08:00

On the ninetieth and last day in Brazil, I dropped my camera and broke it forever. It was an accident, not an act of finality. This is the last photograph taken, just before it hit the metro train floor.

Achei CSS!

2010-11-12T14:58:00.000-08:00

Today was an important day for the project I embarked on with Amy, who with offices in Manchester and São Paulo we set about trying to find her favourite band, CSS. I met Ana! After a poster campaign and private investigations, it was a tip-off from Petra that we managed to locate the guitarist. When I get back we will be making a book about the task. You can see our previous attempts to find the band on older blogposts. Ana was lovely!

While We Were Away

2010-11-12T14:47:00.000-08:00

The former FELIZ ANIVERSARIO banner that became a LOWRI EVANS banner fell down. I then made a much better banner with the letters. It is a nice word to leave behind and to take away. I was also pleased to realise the first two letters of my first name and the first two letters of my last name can spell love.

Hanging On

2010-11-12T14:36:00.000-08:00

My last three days feel like this!

Dilma and Me

2010-11-02T18:03:00.000-07:00

It seems a bit cheeky to make a film with me and the new president of Brazil. It was a privilege to be in a country when something very important was happening, but also strange to not be directly affected by it. Like a lot of experiences here, I was both close and far away at the same time. What a night though!

Hot Dinners

2010-11-02T17:55:00.000-07:00

I am taking photos of the memorable meals I´m having here in Brazil: the birthdays, the hours of preparation, the ridiculously English or the could-only-be-Brazil, or, the things that were said.

Picking Fruit

2010-11-02T16:42:00.000-07:00

Mango Manga

Cashew Caju

Guabiraba Guabiraba

Blackberries Amoras

Interesting Fonts

2010-11-02T16:25:00.000-07:00

This is an ongoing album of fonts that I am collecting in Brazil. The idea only came to me today, so I can´t tell you how many amazing fonts I´ve missed already. But it´s better late than never.

The Caipirinha and the Pea

2010-11-01T13:37:00.000-07:00

After this happened I have been finding out about Brazilian fairytales, stories such as the man who fed his wife until she couldn't fit in the house and the woman who ironed everything inlcuding the wrinkles on her husbands face.

Last Night

2010-11-01T13:28:00.000-07:00

We drove up to Mangabeiras, and even though I only have this bad picture, it looked like the stars had fallen from the sky to the feet of the mountains.

Halloween in a Hotel Room

2010-11-01T12:02:00.000-07:00

I always look forward to Halloween because it is a chance to dress up, more than normal.
2002 bat, 2006 palm tree, 2007 funeral director, 2008 drowned swimmer, 2009 dead Wonder Woman.

This year my costume was slightly compromised by the limited resources in the hotel room. But I like these kind of challenges, I feel more comfortable with nothing than something. I think because there´s less to lose.

I set about making a mouse costume out of leaves I found outside the hotel.

It was easy to do, but I did have the advantage of packing a stapler (trampedor in Portuguese). However don´t worry if you don´t find yourself with one in your suitcase. You could borrow one from reception, or use the sewing kit that comes in the room. I´ve found being foreign you can generally get away with more because it is easier for people to let you do something than to try and explain why you can´t. It´s like when tired parents give in to screaming children. So I wouldn´t think twice about making this on a reception desk if I needed to.

Here are the results. The only flaw is I miscalculated the scale of my costume, so it is more of a costume for my hand, or a guinea pig.

Materials:

Making Of:

Result:

Taking a Plant on a Journey

2010-10-29T06:30:00.000-07:00

Finally here is the long awaited video to accompany the task Kerry set for me, to take a plant on a journey. This came about after the 100 Cauliflowers project I helped her with in London in 2007, when one cauli was left over. Laura and me carried the giant veg across London on the tube to give to our friend Brookie. I was surprised how much excitement a vegetable in public could create- people talked to me about their recipes and stories about cauliflowers. There is no documentation of this journey, just the memory.

The Leaf That Looks Like a Mouse

2010-10-28T14:06:00.000-07:00

Now I´m looking for the ears.

Packaging the Amazon

2010-10-28T11:20:00.000-07:00

Things that let me know where I am.

Swimming in the Amazon

2010-10-27T14:24:00.000-07:00

Here is my latest video, but I am creating many more!

Band Tips

2010-10-13T11:02:00.000-07:00

As I am busy writing new songs to bring back for Hotpants Romance, I wrote some advice on how to be in a band. This is particularly with Kerry in mind, who will debut her new band ´Not in the Moment´at our Manchester show.

Band

The Office

2010-10-07T20:13:00.000-07:00

Business as usual!

A Funny Thing Happened by the Fridge

2010-10-07T17:04:00.000-07:00

Acting Class

2010-10-07T16:59:00.000-07:00

When I first arrived in Brazil I wanted to walk around the place in wonder and awe. I felt like this:

But it´s a sure fire way to get into trouble, wherever you are. My advice is if you´re alone in a city on a street, you need to walk like you´ve just killed a man, and are on your way to sort another one out. A bit like this:

Anagrams: Too much time on my hands?

2010-10-07T16:46:00.000-07:00

Two nights ago, I was staring at the ´feliz aniversario´banner that has stuck around ever since Rodolfo´s birthday. I thought, you can spell my name apart from the W out of the letters. The next day, I did this.

Love Seat

2010-10-05T20:27:00.000-07:00

I thought Brazil was even more loved up when I kept seeing love seats at the metro stations. But upon closer inspection they´re seats for obese people.

One Good Thing about Living Next to a Building Site

2010-10-05T20:14:00.000-07:00

Is the floodlights mean you get some really good shadows on your bedroom wall!

Rouge

2010-10-05T20:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was went to Marta´s house who wants to make a show about the letters of Rosa Luxumberg. She wanted some photos of women she knew wearing red and would like to work with on the project. My Portuguese means I don´t know exactly what this entails, but it feels like a big hug of acceptance here, to be in a group of exciting people that like my company. I was surprised to find even though red´s my favourite colour, I had not packed anything red! So an hour before I had to leave I painted the Folha de Sâo Paulo, taped it together and stapled the sides. And hey presto! One red dress. It´s very easy to do, just lie on top of the paper, draw around yourself with a pencil to check the size and you´re away!

Recylced Notes

2010-10-03T20:17:00.000-07:00

A book of recycled notes from Brazil for Laura after using her book of recycled notes from England.

Here is the original book she made. You can buy this and other things like this from her shop here

Half Way

2010-10-03T19:58:00.000-07:00

I am half way through my time here more or less. I am not counting the days, I stopped doing that when it got into double numbers (not just because I was still learning them in Portuguese) and then yesterday I noticed it was the 1st of October which cuts my time roughly in half. The days have flown, and started to blur into each other. I think this means it´s because I´ve been having a good time, but I feel a bit lost.

It´s the middle, the sag in the sheet, the not beginning and the not end. And I´m not sure how I feel. And why I came. Am I here to work or to love or to just be? And worrying about it is getting in the way of doing all those things.

Four Cheese Squared

2010-10-03T19:34:00.000-07:00

As a vegetarian in Brazil my choice in fillings or toppings is usually ´quatro queijos´. I am trying to work out the maths of how many cheeses squared I am eating weekly.

I would like to add that this photo is not representative of all the great foods I have been trying. Just a visual aid to this mathematical problem.

The Toothbrush

2010-10-03T19:23:00.000-07:00

I was excited to get a new toothbrush in a plastic wrapper at the hotel. But this is no ordinary toothbrush, it has very different properties. This could have removed graffiti off walls. I was sad I left my toothbrush at home.

Address Book

2010-09-30T18:58:00.000-07:00

This is a book I am currently making. I am collecting the fronts of envelopes I have received in the period of transition from Manchester to São Paulo. It is a straight forward tracker of my life. When I get home I am going to add to the book and use envelopes from all the homes I have lived in.

If you would like to write to me here, I would love to hear from you and include your envelope in my book!
My address is: Rua Jose Antonio Coelho 505, Ap. 33, Vila Mariana, 04011 - 061 São Paulo SP, Brasil.

Finding CSS

2010-09-28T19:54:00.000-07:00

Last week I embarked on a task set by Amy Pennington. She wanted me to find one of her favourite bands, CSS, that live in Sao Paulo. It is part of ongoing investigation with hub centres in Miles Platting and Sao Paulo. Here you can see the beginnings of what I have been doing, which will be made into a book that will be released in the two cities. So far, I have made enquiries at MTV Brasil, posted flyers around the area they live and chased friends of friends for leads.

Missing My Mum

2010-09-19T20:26:00.000-07:00

Sometimes Skype plays tricks on you, and just when you´re marvelling at how close you feel, it reminds you how far away you actually are. She´s given me all these things over the years to help me fly and be free and now it´s backfired on us. I´m off to the post office first thing in the morning to send this.

Buying a Typewriter in Sé

2010-09-19T20:19:00.000-07:00

This week I bought a typewriter. It was very exciting to find a shop that looked like a technological graveyard, full of fax machines and older men that like to fix things. My enthusiasm took me to a tour of the back room, floor to ceiling stacked with gadgets that had promised so much, and now sat awkwardly, obesely, redundantly on top of each other. Watch this space for new books!

One Night Two Dreams Both About Flying

2010-09-13T20:47:00.000-07:00

The Return to Rio

2010-09-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

Stop, Pause, Dwell, Reflect

2010-09-08T17:52:00.000-07:00

Extracts from a book of a journey I made. The rules were set by Richard. When I return home I might also perform this journey, plotting the exact points on a map of Manchester and taking a group of people with me.

Ache-Me

2010-09-08T17:28:00.000-07:00

I waited on a bridge in the city. I left only this book of clues and instructions to reveal my position.

My Letters

2010-09-05T09:49:00.000-07:00

Today I found a big envelope containing everything I had ever posted to Brazil. A stack of letters and photos and scraps that found their way across the time apart, the miles apart, the lives apart. When I sent them I didn´t think I would see them again. Like scattering seeds, I just hoped for the best, that they would be ok. And now I am hovering over them, beside myself with the same joy that I feel when new shoots emerge out of the earth. A miracle and yet it´s just the way things are.

Exploring a Place and Finding Yourself

2010-09-05T09:31:00.000-07:00

The sun has baked Sao Paulo since I arrived, today´s the first day I´ve seen a cloud and I think it´s getting ready to rain at last. The sky looks like it could burst at any time. I was a nervous about this week, but it is nearly over, and it has been very important for me. He left to work in Rio on Tuesday, and I was left to face this city on my own.

I´ve learnt to look after myself, to get around, to ask strangers for help, to trust my piegeon portuguese, to meet new friends, to find my bearings. To find a Sao Paulo of my own.

The smallest task, that in Manchester I would cram my day with, can take me a whole day here. I am learning to slow down, to appreciate the time of things. My acheivements this week have been: to buy a sim card for a phone that didn´t work, to call the shop to say it didn´t work, to return to the shop to find out the phone didn´t work, to buy a new phone, to get a half price discount because the man turned out to be a Smiths fan, to top up credit, and to make a call. It took me all day, and when I finally had a working phone in my hands, I was so happy I had to sit down with a coffee or else I would have cried. After that I knew I was going to be ok. I got keys cut, and now everytime I see the keycutter I say hello and how are you. I´ve caught the metro in rush hour, one big hot group hug in the shape of a train. I asked bus drivers where they were going and got on. I have found theatre. My freckles have found me. I saw a helicopter land on a roof. I have been lost lots and found my way again from strangers with points and smiles. Best of all I have found beautiful pockets of people and the city, by just wandering around in the heat and following my instincts.

Tomorrow he returns, and I will not be at home. I have made a map for him to come and find me. I am very excited to see him again, and to share a little bit of what it feels like to explore a place and find yourself.

How you know when it´s home

2010-09-05T09:28:00.000-07:00

I was just about to leave the house and as I turned to leave I saw my shoes dotted around the room. Each pair marking the place where I took them off. My dad was the first to notice this habit of mine: ´you leave your shoes EVERYWHERE!´ he would say before dumping them back in my bedroom. And that was even before I really had shoes, you know, lots of shoes. As I shut the door behind me, I stopped and smiled. Because I thought to myself: this means I must feel at home here.

Everything is Happening All of the Time

2010-09-03T19:07:00.000-07:00

A video I made this week here in Sao Paulo. I was fascinated by the things that live here and what they do, from the ants to the aeroplanes. It is the start of my investigation into how to belong to a place.

A Poem For My Grandmother

2010-09-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

Five days after I arrived here my Grandmother died. I wrote this for her.

I let our time together
travel through my head.

Finding you
behind the crinkle of a big newspaper.
The sparkle of surprise.
The smile
in your eyes.

The sofa.
The stories of sisters and school.
And my favourite,
waiting at the train station
the night Tadci nearly missed you
and asked you to marry him.

The bend
of postcards from around the world
that came to rest on your mantelpiece.
The quick quips,
the mind that didn´t miss a trick.

The kitchen cupboards
full of ingredients for chocolate cake,
rows of blue and white china.
I would look in wonder and pause.
Food that like you, had survived two world wars.

The shelves lined in books
a house dripping with words.

The mountain of bread
a gift for the birds.

The garden path
that took us to a paradise
of shadows and trees
of undergrowth and the picking of peas.

The cat-flap for strays that stayed.

Jars and jars of marmalade.

The loops of wool
that wrapped me in cardigans
and blankets
and love.

Nothing your needles couldn´t do.

The doorstep.

The kisses you blew.

The grandmother

I knew.

Bem- Vindo!

2010-08-13T18:35:00.000-07:00

I am spending three months in Brazil. I fly out this Tuesday. As well as having a holiday, watch this space for art projects that happen whilst I'm there!

You can see an account of my last trip there in the writing section of this blog.

Beijos!