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8th August 2008Tim Dollimore's blog
Post thoughts
Written by Tim Dollimore
Saturday, 09 August 2008 00:00
The last day of this years global player tour found me bruised, battered and truely happy... I seem to have found a great friend in table tennis and am looking into local clubs and teams to keep me in the loop and on top of my game - if we're gonna tour this thing globally then i had really better get practicing.
Last night we (myself, Corrieri & Müller) looked up some table tennis viddys on YouTube and frankly it's scary what TT monsters there are out there! Crazy moves, insane spin and lightening-fast - we gotta get our game up to scratch!
So how do I feel having come to the end of this journey? Have we achieved the goals/ponderings set out at the beginning? I feel tired and elated - I think we have touched many people with this work/game and I hope those people left with a little more than just a score and the memory of an odd game in an odd place - i hope they left with a shifted vision of their space - a thought and idea around the empty spaces we see around us - even if just a wee thought or imagining it would make me very happy.
Bring on the world!!
The next chapter...
Written by Tim Dollimore
Wednesday, 06 August 2008 23:55
Chapter welcome us with open arms and a cheer as we enter the gallery bar at 1030. Waking in Brighton at 5am we get on the road by 5.30 - garlic sandwiches for breakfast(..!) a swift motorway stop - not enough coffee - not enough sleep. The reception we receive at Chapter sweeps all this away and we are ready to play Cardiff come what may.
We meet the guest player Owen Griffiths and run him through the performance drill. The stewards introduce themselves and I give the team a full brief and a run-down on the rules and our experiences thus far. We are joined today by Dean Woolford (Exhibitions manager), Alena Schmitz (Exhibitions coordinator) and Sian Jones (General star and energy booster!) from Chapter. The support is such a massive bonus to us as we have been running this on our own till today and today sees the Global Player in a dishevelled and worn-out state. Thank you Chapter for your wonderful hospitality.
After our first stop near the Eisteddfod i quickly realise that i don't even know a word of Welsh. I feel embarissed and need to rectify the issue - with the help of Owen and Sian I learn the line "Dwi ddim yn siarad Cymraeg, mae arna'i ofn" which i jot down phonetically into my phone... "I'm afraid I don't speak any Welsh..." Is the translation... This will suffice for the day...
A difficult day in terms of play and ability for me. I loose half of my games but feel that we have brought a great experience to Cardiff and hope that we have enlivened some spaces - if at only for a moment. We walk a lot today - covering a number of spots and feet are beginning to tire.
Time to move on - Back to Exter tomorrow to play the UK male champion and the Exeter female champion... No preasure then...
Thank you Cardiff - We'll be back.
I'm the stat man
Written by Tim Dollimore
Wednesday, 06 August 2008 01:41
Bee bee dum dada dum dee dee dat! "I'm the stat man..."
OMG! I think i'm going mad... i've just been staring at the screen collating all the stats and getting them up on the web... looking forward to the long drive to Cardiff in 4 hrs time... guessing i'll be easy picking for the welsh players tomorrow. Let's see... the stats will enable me to tell in sleep deprivation is detrimental to my game... night... enjoy the stats....
Brighton
Written by Tim Dollimore
Tuesday, 05 August 2008 19:55
I've been dreaming table tennis - spins, back hands, topspin smashes, twiddly wiered deceptive shots, ping-pong balls flying through the air!!! I awake in a pool of sweat and find that during my desturbed sleep i have developed a new serve... Today I put it to the test... dream on...
Brighton is full of great players. We create some good crowds in Jubilee Square and the rain is ignored by passers by, who throw themselves in. The crowd - spectators - that so easily become interactors - performers - whilst others watch on and marvel at the interaction. We created some amazing moments today with great crowds cheering and throwing themselves in to the spirit of the spectacle. Friend and colleague Caroline Waters joins us today and walks with us assisting with talking to people and supporting us - as we leave the Sainsbury's square she is engaged in a conversation with a chap - she catches us up later and says - "hey - that guy was a public space consultant for the council.." "He could have come to talk to us" Volkhardt says. Apparently he took some pics so let's hope he puts the idea to good use. We feel that possibly a chance to engage at a deeper level in the public space politics of Brighton has been lost... If you're reading this mr council man please do get in touch...
Back to Jubilee Square and a final 30 mins of play - a group of Americans REALLY take to the project and get seriously over-excited as one of their crew so very nearly beats Augusto. Final score - 11-9 to global player - a very close match - her group cheer and whoop as she so very nearly gets the better of a very tired and worn out Italian star.
We return to Augusto's pad and sit to write the blogs up - jez - i am whacked... still gotta get the stats drawn up and posted on the site...
Thank you soooo much for the help today Caroline xx see you soon xx.
Saturday blues in Exeter...
Written by Tim Dollimore
Saturday, 02 August 2008 21:21
Today was probably the worst i have played for the entire project; warm-up, preview event, during practice - for some reason everything went wrong... serve was bad - returns went awry and i gave away games left right and centre... After warming up in the Phoenix for an hr and getting all limbered and ready we headed out and set up outside exeter library. This turned out to be a great spot and it was interesting to see how many people gravitated towards our buzzing arena of interest and fun. The first chap to approach was a young cool looking friendly man from Slovakia - "yeah! I've played a bit before" he cooly announces... 10 minutes later Augusto and i are battered and bruised after receiving a sound beating... Fortunately Volkhardt holds up our honour by scraping a win back and saving the global player.
We play on and a few games later get approached by a Chinese chap - Jimmy - who's wife is taking a nationality test (..!) in the library, he creams us all...
It is obvious that this project is a fantastic way to engage the public in serious conversations about the use of public space and the politics of these spaces - ownership, purpose, community, culture. This is so accessible - people want to talk, join in, play engage. and once they are in this mental state of "yes" the most enlightening conversations can be had about how public space is viewed, treated, should be treated in the locale.
In a recent holiday to the French island of Corsica i was enthralled by the tradition of Boules pits in every town centre - a place to meet, commune, create a sense of community. I wanted to join in but had just as much fun watching and would have been sent packing by the old guys with their battered old ancient Petanque balls and seriously wicked skill..! I feel like we are bringing some of this vibe (minus the old and battered bit) to the spaces we inhabit and it is just great to see people walk around the corner - see us playing and just smile - they come over and say "hey can we play"... They are in...
Despite the bad stats for me on this day we end the day in good spirits - Phil a good friend and café owner from Exeter comes and plays - he beats me fair and square - i am downhearted - Augusto steps up to try to defeat him - Augusto WINS - Global Player's honour is retained - Later Phil texts me: [ Thanks for the tt game. Much enjoyed. And i loved the effect that one ball, two bats and three crazy men in orange hats had on the exeter's high street on a busy Saturday afternoon. Cheers. Phil ] I texted him back: [ grrrr - i'll get you next time ] - I check myself and realise the crazy competitive energy that this project is filling me with... Ha! I text again and say thanks for the game - See u on Thursday Phil.... I'll getcha!
Phil is right - That spot on Exeter high st was suddenly changed - owned by the public - the nice area/arena surrounded by trees and benches - usually a quiet spot with a reserved and timid public, sitting for a moment or stopping for a rest - suddenly livened by the Global Player - owned by the public - all cheering - all engaged - all enjoying their own space.
And we're off!
Written by Tim Dollimore
Friday, 01 August 2008 19:32
My god! What a start... the first day and we rack up 38 games loosing just twice to 2 demon players.
Home and feeling whacked I reflect on the day and wonder about the spaces and locations we have played. We successfully inhabited 5 locations bringing a new understanding of those spaces to the people who use them on a daily basis... i hope... does this colonisation of other peoples environments and the invasion we bring make people think about the possibility of space? on 2 occasions we were asked to move on by the security guards who's job it is to erm... move on table tennis players... erm... police the space... and the localle - directly outside a sports shop in the guildhall - a space that imediately dies once the shop doors close... As we wandered back through (after setting up for 2 hrs on the boundry of the guildhall) the desertion of this space by the consuming shoppers was evident - this beautiful large and empty space - it soooo needs table tennis in it.
Pre launch nerves
Written by Tim Dollimore
Friday, 25 July 2008 22:32
So the preview event in Torquay went well. Managed to stand ground and remained undefeated. A good start!
Feeling a little nervous about The launch... We've invited West Exe Table Tennis Club to defend their turf! best get practising...