I finally decided what I want to do with all of the food wrappers & mysterious Estonian labels that I have been collecting. I would like to create a series of food trays out of them- similar to the ones that I am making out of soap to accompany Marcel's prison food log. Evelyn & John helped me come up with the idea to mold them out of paper pulp before I cover them with my food labels. We filled the mopping bucket with hot water & began shredding up some of the stacked newspapers that are in the studio for starting fires. Fires take place in a brick stove that require you to quickly burn lots of wood down into glowing embers and then to close the door and shut a shoot- keeping the heat in to warm the bricks. If it is shut too soon you will be exposed to carbon monoxide, which could lead to suffocation. So the door has to be shut just at the right moment- after the coals have been thoroughly raked. I have had John & Evelyn's help on several occasions to build a fire to dry up any dampness lurking in the studio. -Back to my paper pulp, it is soaking over night to moisten so that tomorrow it can be ground down into a moldable mixture, which I can sculpt my meal trays out of.
Evelyn & John had just returned from a meeting with the town mayor and other important people in the community to address the future of tourism in Mooste. Apparently it was just acknowledged as being one of the most desirable spots to visit in Polva County & they are feeling the pressure to live up to that expectation. Mooste holds various events throughout the year including a Christmas fair and a folk festival, which manage quite successfully to bring many visitors from outside of the community. However, besides these special events there is not much going on here in Mooste for tourists to partake in. I see many a nice car enter Mooste, make the quick round looking at the old buildings through their windows & then zoom back to the main road to hit up the next place that was written about on their triangle map of "places to see". Mooste has one inn for guests to stay overnight, but there are still no cafes or restaurants for people to linger. There are no kiosks to buy neither postcards nor souvenirs. John expressed how there was little said at the meeting about where the money would actually go- provided Mooste did become a place which enticed a bit of spending. Would it go back into the community? Whole volumes have been written on the subject of sustainable tourism, but how could it manifest itself in a place as small as Mooste? What kinds of people would be worth attracting here & how could those people contribute positively to this community?
MoKs, an artist residency with currently only two studios has already put themselves on the global map, even with very little promotion. The attitude of "let the art world come to us" seems to work- when there is such a desperate need from artists all over the world to have the time & space to work in a supportive environment. Many artists are figuring out how to make a whole lifestyle out of it- not couch surfing, but "residency hopping". I think that it is part of MoKS mission to make this rather elite nomadic experience more transparent & accessible for a broader population. I could see Mooste expanding in a positive way by having a lively, cultured group of people that moderately fluctuate throughout the year, but that RETURN.
Artists have always played a role in transformation & gentrification of places both for better & for worse- I can only say that once a "pearl" is exposed- such as the pearl district in Portland, Oregon- it rapidly looses it's pearldom....
I had dinner with Sara- & we unwound from our stressful day of being artists over some potato cakes & cheap Russian table wine. I had my first walk home in the dark- across Mooste. There was little light, with the exception of the moon. I could only hear birds of the night- so far no encounters with ghosts, but I could feel my heart racing a bit as I struggled to align the key into the front door.
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