Different skin

Sometimes I feel uncomfortable in the suit, sometimes I need to get into a different skin to relate to the suit again. It first happened when I arrived in Barcelona in January and the suit didn’t work the way it used to: as a link inbetween the two worlds I move in, the world where I move my feet in and the world where my fingers leave written words, (and actually you are in both of them now, reading this). I didn’t know what to do then, but the city gave me an answer. It surprised me with an amazing supply of clothes thrown out on the street. I started wearing them on off-suit moments, I started a project with it, Memory Shopping.

Until now I wore my suit every day in Barcelona. Day and night. Just the first night I went out dancing I exchanged it for found footage. And this weekend.

It isn’t easy to take off the suit. It makes me worry that I’m not dedicated enough to my cause. That I (like Thoreaux wrote) don’t strive hard enough for not acquiring anything new until I’ve become a new person in the old clothes. But you also have to be flexible sometimes, trust your gut-feeling, adapt. And not be too strict (read: too Dutch). Add new meanings to your old idea. So I walked to the Palo Alto market in a found dress on found shoes with a found bag. And I don’t know if it was this lovely city confirming my decision or if it was just a coincidence (or maybe it is one and the same thing) but on my way there I found an amazing collection of dresses and shirts and shawls and trousers. So I arrived at the dancefloor with a pink garbage bag over my shoulder, left it with the dj and danced. 

And it isn’t just clothes I find. Lots of Spanish language books, handy items, shoes, bags. Usually at unexpected moments, when you aren’t looking for it. Like the other night when I walked to the harbour to go dancing in a found dress and bumped into a peculiar book with a beautiful cover. Inbetween the dancing, with glitter all over me, sitting outside smoking, I tried to read bits and pieces in “Existio otro Humanidad”. It was difficult, my Spanish didn’t develop much so far, but fortunately on Sunday, together with the amazing dresses, I also found a Spanish grammar book.

And by the way: the Memory Shopping project is still online (and will be developed further this winter) and there are beautiful things for sale there, all the money goes to the homeless in Barcelona: www.memoryshopping.blogspot.com

(all clothes found yesterday, yellow shoes last week, boots last winter, bags on different occasions)