Regular Line Sheffield (UK) - Topolcany (SK) 2014

"There are many, many good results from that revolution from the end of the last year. One of the best for us (students) is that now we mustn't do exams from marxismus teorie."     Zuzana N., 13/02/1990 ...

Dear Zuzana,
we are packed and ready to go! The day of departure has come round so quickly! I was so busy getting my art work ready that I didn't have time to write to you earlier! We are all very excited! Tonight we will be in Bratislava and I can't wait to explore your home town for the first time. It is a pity that you and me won't be able to meet. But you never know - we may pass each other as strangers in the street ... 
I look forward to meeting people from your country and being submerged in a language and culture I haven't encountered before. I visited Prague just after the Wall came down in 1992 and it was an incredible experience. Again, a lot has changed since then and I know that Slovakia will be different. I am taking the shredded letters. They only just fit into my bag! Most of the space is taken up by 'Broken Tree', my vinyl lettering piece for Nastupiste 1-12 gallery. I expect the next few days to be very busy so there will be no time for letter writing. I will report back with my impressions after our trip! Susanne

Regular Line Sheffield (UK) - Topolcany (SK) 2014

"At first I ask you - How are you? How do you live? What have you done at summer?"   Zuzana N., 30/08/1989 ...

Beckingen, Germany, August 2014

"Dear Zuzana, I'm fine. After six weeks in Germany I am now back in Sheffield. 
Our Regular Line Project is progressing and we are only two and a half weeks away from visiting your country for the first time! 

I had a very reflective time in Germany. Where I grew up is only 20 minutes drive from the French or Luxembourg border. Schengen is not far. I often feel that the open borders of the EU have a different significance for me as they have - for example - for people from the UK - where I live now. This year also marked the 100th Anniversary of World War I. From 1920 'The Saar' was actually occupied by Britain and France. The area has an overall interesting history - before and after the two world wars. Today it is Germany's smallest federal state.

London, UK, September 2014

So much has changed since our original correspondence! About a year ago I had a phase of shredding many old letters that I had kept over many years - and your earlier letters with them. As an artist I then stored the shreds in a plastic bag - as they had representative meaning and were visually beautiful. This summer returning back to England I took a pile of shreds with me as a symbolic act. This journey of the symbolic object of our original correspondence also symbolizes the journey I have made now and in the context of life. Like with a pile of memory fragments it is impossible to piece together the original experiences/letters from the little strips of paper. I intend to take them to Bratislava and Topolcany and then leave them there - looping past and present.

Initially I thought this narrative story would form the framework of my work for Regular Line 2014. Over the past few weeks a different approach evolved in communication with my fellow artists David Jones and Kirsteen Hardie. One that roots my work for Nastupiste 1-12 in the present rather than the past.

Susanne

Sheffield, UK, October 2014

Bratislava - View of the Danube and Castle - Monument Stur -
Slovak National Gallery and House CSSP -
Primatial Square, part of the old neo-Gothic town hall from 1912

Regular Line Sheffield (UK) - Topolcany (SK) 2014

"I wanted also to visit you but I hadn't time. So, sorry. Maybe next time." Zuzana N., 30/08/1989 ...

"Dear Zuzana, 
I have great news! I have been selected to take part in the Regular Line Project 2014! This means I will actually be able to visit your country for the first time! I am currently working with fellow artists Kirsteen Hardie and David Jones - who are also based in Sheffield, UK - on a concept for an exhibition in Topolcany.
This summer I have travelled back to my mum's house in Germany, where I grew up and from where I used to write to you as a teenager. I found out that I have not kept all of your letters! There are only a few left: the ones you wrote to me during the 'Revolution' and afterwards, when we both started to live in several different places. At the 25th Anniversary of the 'Revolutions' it feels quite a significant point in time to work on the above project and loop present and past. I will continue to share my thoughts with you as we progress! 
More soon! Susanne" 

More about the 'Revolutions of 1989' here.