Change of Tack
This week I finally finished reading Robinson Crusoe. I began reading it in 2019 when I was asked to work with pupils at Lundin Mill Primary School to help them make a piece of artwork, to be presented alongside Roger Palmer’s REFUGIO exhibition at Kirkcaldy Galleries. At this juncture I read as far as I needed to – I found out what he ate when he was first on the island – a relatable topic for Primaries 1 and 2.
Here’s some blurb about Roger’s show from Fife Contemporary’s website:
‘An exhibition celebrating 300 years since the novel Robinson Crusoe was published
In the early 18th century a sailor from Fife left his ship and lived alone for four years on an uninhabited Pacific island. Alexander Selkirk’s subsequent account of his experiences provided Daniel Defoe with inspiration for his novel, Robinson Crusoe. Selkirk’s island is now part of Chile; in 1966 it was renamed Isla Robinson Crusoe.
300 years after the first publication of Robinson Crusoe, at a venue close to Selkirk’s birthplace, Lower Largo, REFUGIO explores the blurring of fact with fiction between Selkirk and Crusoe. The exhibition combines different approaches to representation: analogue and digital photographs made in Scotland and Chile; temporary works based on illustrations in an early 20th century book for children; and extracts from J M Coetzee’s 1986 novel, Foe.’
In the book I enjoyed the lengthy and involved descriptions of how practical and resourceful Crusoe was – how he observed the qualities of his environment including the different animals and birds, trees and plants and how he used these natural resources along with limited weapons and provisions he’d salvaged. He evolved from being a hunter-gatherer to become a farmer. By using tools and materials he solved problems through trial and error and learned by reflecting on what he’d done.
So to the Change of Tack, I’ve decided that after a year of monthly blogs I’m now going to post them every two months, this will allow more time for projects in development and to design and make new work.
