I believe in the click by Rodrigo Ghattas

I BELIEVE IN THE CLICK A diary of daily encounters Rodrigo Ghattas

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Realize that life is more than meets the eye. Life goes beyond our five senses. Be receptive to new knowledge and to new experiences.â&#x20AC;? - Brian L. Weiss

CONTENTS Introduction

Andrea. Too Italian for my taste 8 Sunniva. Wide as the sea 12 Clarissa. New in town 16 Ahmad. Lost my keys 20 Print & paper – Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo, Lessebo Scandia g/m 100 & Colotech Silk 2

240 g/m2. Offset-print 1st Edition – 5 copies Editors – Nicolas William Hughes Designer – Christian Uceda Translation – Rodrigo Ghattas Proofreaders – Martin Berner Mathiesen Photo credits – Javier Auris and Rodrigo Ghattas OSLO 2017

Elena. Kid soul 24 Cecilie & Stian. Shuffleboard 28 Fabián. Una cerveza 32 Leonie. Two for one 36 Thomas. Legalize 40 The click 44

INTRODUCTION

I believe in the click, is the first in a series daily performative projects to be developed during the period 2016 - 2018, in which I fuse my daily life with my artistic practice. Traversing through the everyday settings of my new home, the city of Oslo, I go about my daily business walking the city; visiting bars and cafes, go to school, friendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s houses, parties, etc. The everyday for myself negotiating new surroundings and people in search/attempt to find a tentative answer to the underlying questions: What does it mean to be a stranger? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; When do we stop being strangers? Facing the unpredictability of daily life, where various encounters occur unexpectedly. Using a Tally Counter and a Polaroid camera, I count the time, each hour that passes until a new spontaneous and unplanned encounter with a stranger takes place - in a public or a private space - in various situations of daily life. My human and artistic instinct guide me through the recognition of meaningful encounters and the small gestures that have the potential to transform our predefined ways of being with the other. A click is what makes the difference, for the stranger to become no longer a stranger. In the following pages you will travel through 09 different and unique stories, 09 persons, 09 lifes, 09 encounters, 09 situations, 09 spaces and 09 moments.

TOO ITALIAN FOR MY TASTE ANDREA click ď&#x2122;?1

Beers, kind smiling, good heart, friendly, big interesting beard, open hands, too Italian for my taste, how to make Oslo more welcoming?, parece un Osito, Eva, yellow

Eva (*) 550 horas

172 hours since the project started

It was not too late that night. My friends Martin, Nina and I decided to be part of the workshop “How to make Oslo more welcoming?” It had been a few days since I started the project –I Believe in The Click-, I must admit that I was a bit nervous but at the same time I was curious to discover who would be that first stranger with whom I would click with for the very first time. How will s/he react? Would s/he think I’m crazy? Would s/he let me take a picture of him or not? Is it a male or a female? Etc. Maybe an hour had passed after we arrived. Then suddenly I saw Martin talking to a guy taller than him. Which to be honest is not so difficult. Martin is a short guy –he has a big heart though. The person Martin was chatting to was Andrea, he introduced us, 15 minutes later there was no doubt that the man with the big beard, good-guy face-expression, friendly, with a best friend smile - I even could feel his noble heart and kindness (yes, sometimes I feel hearts by this I mean I can tell whether they are a good person or not)- I knew straight away that Andrea I would become the first person I chose to be a part of my project. To be honest after telling him about the project I don’t know who was happier, him or me. What I do know is that I got an overwhelming feeling of joy when Andrea smiled for the camera, he said he loved the project and was wondering if he could continue to develop it on his own. By that time I didn’t think not even for a second about this possibility, but of course I loved his idea. At the end of that night I couldn’t sleep thinking about who would be that meaningful person for Andrea... a few weeks later I met her, Eva. By the way, Andrea loves to sing Italian hymns when he is drunk, he does this like for ages. It seems like he would never ever stop but I admire his unique way of being too Italian for my taste.

No era muy tarde esa noche. Martin, Nina (amigos) y yo decidimos participar en el workshop “How to make Oslo more welcoming?”. Habían pasado ya algunos días desde que decidí empezar el proyecto, debo admitir que aún estaba nervioso pero curioso al mismo tiempo por saber quién sería ese primer extraño con el cual haría click. ¿Cómo reaccionará? ¿Pensará que estoy loco? ¿Dejará que le tome una foto o no? ¿Será hombre o mujer? Etc. Quizás una hora había pasado desde que llegamos, de pronto veo a Martin conversando con un tipo más alto que él, y bueno eso no es tan difícil, Martin es un hombre pequeño –pensé- pero con un gran corazón. Esa persona con la que él charlaba era Andrea, nos presentó y quizás unos 15 minutos después no cabía duda de que aquel sujeto de grande barba, con cara de buena gente, amigable, con sonrisa de buen amigo sería la primera persona en involucrarse en el proyecto. Ahora que recuerdo incluso pude sentir su corazón noble y bondadoso (si, a veces siento corazones). Para ser sincero no sé quién estaba más feliz, él o yo. Lo que sí sé es que me emocione desbordadamente cuando Andrea sonrió para la cámara, me dijo que le encantaba el proyecto y me preguntó si podría seguir desarrollándolo por su cuenta. No había pensado ni por un segundo en esa posibilidad, pero claro que me encantó la idea y le respondí que por supuesto. Al final de aquella noche no pude dormir pensando en quién sería esa persona-desconocido(a) para Andrea…algunas semanas después la conocí, Eva. Por cierto, a Andrea le encanta cantar himnos en italiano cuando esta ebrio y lo hace por siglos. Parece que jamás se va a detener pero realmente admiro y aprecio su particular forma de ser muy italiano para mi gusto.

WIDE AS THE SEA SUNNIVA click 2

Theater, smile, extroverted, Spanish-Norsk, warm, KHiO, café, canteen, language exchange, Duolingo

84 hours since last encounter

Somewhat stressed about the little progress I had made with my Norwegian after several months since my arrival in Oslo, I decided that perhaps a good strategy to improve it would be to make a language exchange. But of course, I never have enough time, so I thought it would be easier to do it with someone from school. I posted my idea on KHIO´s FB group asking if anyone would be interested in learning Spanish and in return teach me Norwegian.

Algo estresado por el poco progreso que tenía con el Noruego decidí que quizás una buena estrategia para mejorar era haciendo un intercambio de idiomas. Pero claro, nunca tengo tiempo suficiente y se me ocurrió que sería algo más sencillo hacerlo con alguien de la escuela. Postié en el grupo de KHIO en FB, preguntando si alguien estaría interesado en aprender español y a cambio enseñarme noruego.

Three people - quite enthusiastic - replied, however I only got to know Sunniva face to face. A girl with a broad smile, super extroverte, affectionate, apparently a coffee lover - well we are in Norway so that is not so rare. We met for the first time in my work space at the school, near the canteen. I remember Sunniva kept smiling during the whole meeting but I was mainly focused on her accent, I had never heard an accent like that before. It captivated me. Oh yeah! By the way Sunniva is a student in the Theater Department, surely that will explain many things.

Tres o cuatro personas –bastante entusiasmados- respondieron, sin embargo, solo llegue a conocer personalmente a Sunniva. Una chica de sonrisa amplia, super extrovertida, cariñosa, aparentemente le encanta el café –bueno estamos en Noruega así que eso no es tan raro-. Nos conocimos por primera vez en mi espacio de trabajo en la universidad, cerca de la cantina. Recuerdo que Sunniva no paraba de sonreír pero yo estaba más que atento a su acento, nunca había escuchado un acento así antes. Era cautivante. ¡Ah sí! Por cierto Sunniva es estudiante en el Departamento de Teatro, seguro que eso explicara muchas cosas.

But of course, her level of Spanish was a thousand times better than my precarious Norwegian. So almost everything we talked about was in Spanish, jumping from there to Norwegian and then to English –she is half American so this also came naturally to her. It was a soup of languages. We have seen each other quite often since that day, although I must admit that I have not yet practiced with Duolingo as she recommended me some time ago. Takk takk super takk Sunniva.

Volviendo al tema, su nivel de español era mil veces mejor que mi precario nivel de noruego. Así que casi todo lo que hablamos fue en español, saltando desde ahí al noruego y luego al inglés. Era una sopa de idiomas. Nos hemos visto una que otra vez desde ese día, aunque debo admitir que aún no he practicado con Duolingo como me recomendó tiempo atrás. Takk takk super takk Sunniva.

NEW IN TOWN CLARISSA click ď&#x2122;?3

Likeable, insecure, correct her English, tinder-good friends, touchy, glasses, comfy, lab, surrounded by Italians, depression-winter, clumsy

112 hours since last encounter

From time to time I swipe on Tinder; sometimes because I’m bored, sometimes because the flesh is weak and sometimes because I’m curious to meet new people. I remember matching with Clarissa and reading carefully her profile description “I’m an Italian girl. I just arrived in Oslo and I’m looking for new friends :)“. Immediately I thought: If there is a country closer to the Latino culture that would be Italy and/or Spain, sorry for the honesty but there can be no culture/society more different to South American than the Norwegian. We talked for a while; it was fun, easy going, she was new in the city and despite of being here for over 06 months I still felt new too. I decided to introduce Andrea - Yes Andrea, the other Italian friend I met through the project. They connected right away, and although the conversations were mostly in Italian it didn’t matter. I understood almost everything in Italian, so I answered in Spanish. Clarissa is always surrounded by Italians, she wears glasses, is a person with whom it is easy to feel comfortable to be around although she is, sometimes insecure. She works in a laboratory of some kind, I also think the Norwegian weather depresses her a little bit sometimes. The good thing is that she is not alone, she can count on me and our group of friends, and although sometimes I have to (at her request) correct her English. I feel that she is definitely getting better and better. At least once every 10 days we try to have dinner together, Italy = food. Although I still owe her a Peruvian-style dinner.

De cuando en cuando uso Tinder; a veces porque estoy aburrido, a veces porque la carne es débil y otras veces porque tengo curiosidad por conocer nuevas personas. Recuerdo que matchie con Clarissa, en su descripción de perfil decía “Im an italian girl. I just arrived in Oslo and I´m looking for new friends :)”. Enseguida pensé: Si hay un país más cercano a lo que es la cultura Latina es Italia o España, perdón por la sinceridad pero no puede haber cultura más diferente a la Sudamericana que la noruega. Conversamos por un tiempo, era divertida, fácil de conversar, además era nueva en la ciudad y yo aún a pesar de haber estado aquí por más de 06 meses me seguía sintiendo nuevo también. Decidí presentarle a Andrea –si Andrea, el otro amigo italiano que conocí a través de I Believe in The Click. Conectaron rápidamente, y aunque las conversaciones se daban en su mayoría en italiano no importaba mucho para mí. Entendía casi todo en italiano así que respondía en español. Clarissa siempre está rodeada de italianos, usa lentes, es una persona con la cual es sencillo sentirse a gusto, a veces algo insegura, trabaja en un laboratorio y creo que el clima noruego la deprime un poco. Lo bueno es que no está sola, me tiene a mí y a nuestro grupo de amigos, y aunque a veces tengo que corregir su inglés –a pedido de ella- siento que cada vez mejora más y más. Al menos 01 vez cada 10 días tratamos de cenar todos juntos, Italia igual comida. Sin embargo, aún no se olvida que le debo una cena al estilo peruano.

LOST MY KEYS AHMAD click ď&#x2122;?4

Vika atrium, 156 bus, 31 bus, curious, lost my keys, SIO keys, patient, big gesture, calm, saved me

119 hours since last encounter

That day I was on my way back home after spending a beautiful afternoon at my aunts’ house in Baerum, it was around 9 at night when I decided to take Bus 150 back home. Although of course, it is a long trip to Bjerke so I had to get off at Lysaker and continue my way with bus 31 Snaroya. As I got off at Lysaker Station, I realized that my keys were gone, I was freaking out in panic. It was late and the first thing that came to my mind was “Where the fuck am I going to sleep now?” I was not going to be able to enter my house and I would have to pay a pretty expensive fine for SIO to give me a duplicate of the keys.

Aquel día pase la tarde en casa de mis tías en Baerum, eran alrededor de las 9 de la noche cuando decidí tomar el Bus 150 de vuelta a casa. Aunque claro, es un viaje largo hasta Bjerke así que tenía que bajarme en Lysaker y continuar mi camino con el bus 31 Snaroya. Al bajarme en la estación de Lysaker me di cuenta que mis llaves no estaban más, me desespere y casi que entre en pánico. Era de noche y la primera cosa que se me vino a la mente fue “¿Dónde carajos voy a dormir ahora?” no iba a poder entrar a mi casa y encima tendría que pagar una multa bastante cara para que SIO me dé un duplicado de las llaves.

Then I remembered that I had written my mobile number at the back part of my electronic key, in case I would lose it the person who would find it – if with a good heart - would call me and give it back to me.

Luego recordé que había escrito mi teléfono celular en la parte posterior de mi llave electrónica, en caso se me perdiera la persona que la encontrara –de tener buen corazón- me llamaría y me las devolvería.

And this was exactly what happened two minutes later, Ahmad called me, he said he had found my keys in bus 150, and that he would be waiting for me at the Vika Atrium bus station to hand me the keys back. I caught my breath back and went there as quick as I could. I couldn’t believe a stranger was going to wait for me for about 15 minutes and practically save my night without even knowing me, us being total strangers.

Fue exactamente lo que paso dos minutos después, Ahmad me llamo y me dijo que había encontrado mis llaves en el bus 150 y que me estaría esperando en la estación de Vika Atrium para devolvérmelas. Creo que recupere el aliento y fui enseguida para allá. No podía creer que un desconocido iba a esperarme por 15 minutos y prácticamente salvar mi noche sin si quiera conocerme.

I arrived at Vika Atrium and Ahmad was waiting for me with his girlfriend. Instantly I recognized that he was a good-natured person, calm and cheerful fellow. We talked a little, I shared some hints about my project, he had done a huge gesture for me, the least I could do was to return the gesture back. So this was how we met, by the way Ahmad goes to AHO just on the other side of the Akers Elva River in front of my school. We have not seen each other since that day but I’ve definitely mentioned our story many times. Almost always I tell others about the gesture of Ahmad and how grateful I was for his kindness.

Llegue a Vika Atrium y Ahmad me esperaba junto a su novia. Instantáneamente reconocí que era un tipo con buena fe, calmado y alegre. Conversamos un poco, le hable de mi proyecto y le dije que lo que él había hecho fue un gesto enorme, lo menos que podía hacer era devolver el gesto. Así fue que nos conocimos, por cierto Ahmad va a la universidad de arquitectura frente a mi universidad. No nos hemos visto desde aquel día pero definitivamente he mencionado su nombre muchas veces. Casi siempre les cuento a los demás acerca del gesto de Ahmad y lo agradecido que estuve por su amabilidad.

KID SOUL ELENA click ď&#x2122;?5

Tender eyes, risky, Italian, curly hair, adventurous, northern lights, sorry all the time, remind me my ex, cute, dinner, doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t lose her essence

74 hours since last encounter

Clarissa invited me to her place, I think the first idea was to have dinner just the two of us, but two other friends of her joined us during that night. Elena was one of them. As soon as I saw her I couldn’t stop thinking about one of my ex-girlfriends from back in the days. They were almost exact douplegangers; the same curls, the same eyes - of course they are not the exactly the same but they were very similar. We had a delicious Italian dinner, although my attention was definitely on Elena and not so much on the food. I thought: How can they be so alike, not only physically but also in their crazy, risky, adventurous way of being.

Clarissa me invito a una cena en su casa, creo que la primera idea era solo cenar los dos pero ella invito a otros dos de sus amigos que viven en la misma casa de estudiantes. Elena era una de esas dos personas, apenas la vi no pude evitar el pensar en mi ex enamorada. Son una gota de agua, los mismos rulos, los mismos ojos –claro que no son los mismos pero eran muy similaresTuvimos una deliciosa cena italiana, aunque mi atención estaba definitivamente en Elena, pensé: Como pueden ser tan iguales, no solo físicamente pero también en su manera tan loca y aventurera de ser.

If you ask me, I would say that Elena has very tender eyes, she herself seems to be very tender although somewhat wild. Sometimes I had the impression that her mind is flying in the sky, somehow I connected her way of being with the spirit of a child. That is to say, Elena takes care of her inner child.

Si me preguntan, diría que Elena tiene una mirada muy tierna, ella en sí parece ser muy tierna aunque algo alocada. A veces me daba la impresión que su mente andaba por el cielo, de alguna forma conecte ese modo de ser con el espíritu de un niño. Eso es, Elena cuida a su niña interior.

It was already too late for going back home that night, so Clarissa offered me a space in her room. Elena was already back at her place, but just before we went to bed she called us. The app on her cell phone showed a 60% chance of seeing northern lights that dawn. We didn’t have second thoughts about it, we put our clothes on and the three of us went to a lake where we would probably have better visibility.

Ese mismo día se me hizo muy tarde para regresar a casa, así que Clarissa me ofreció un espacio en su cuarto. Elena ya se había ido, pero justo antes de que nos fuéramos a dormir nos llamó. Dijo que la app en su celular le mostraba un 60% de probabilidades de ver auroras boreales esa madrugada. No lo pensamos dos veces, nos pusimos ropa nuevamente

We walked for about 20 minutes, the ground was really slippery and I kept caution. Walking behind Elena and Clarissa, we arrived at the lake and waited for half an hour but no trace of the auroras. Anyway it was a fun hike, sitting on a bench in the middle of the pitch black night, smoking a cigarette and talking about life, was quite interesting and inspiring. That’s how I met Elena, we’ve seen each other only once since that day. Now that I think about it, Elena loves to apologize for everything but not in an annoying way, rather in a way that makes you think that she always cares about how the other feels.

Caminamos por unos 20 minutos, el piso estaba realmente resbaladizo y yo mantenía precaución. Caminaba detrás de Elena y Clarissa, llegamos al lago y esperamos por una media hora pero ningún rastro de las auroras. De todas formas fue una divertida caminata, sentarnos en el lago en medio de la noche oscura, fumar un cigarro y conversar de la vida fue bastante interesante. Así fue como conocí a Elena, nos hemos visto una vez más desde ese día. Ahora que lo pienso, a Elena le encanta pedir perdón por todo pero no en una manera fastidiosa, más bien en una forma que te hace pensar que siempre se preocupa por como el otro se siente.

SHUFFLEBOARD CECILIE & STIAN click ď&#x2122;?6

Open minded, smooth, beautiful smile, cute, in a date, good vibe, sand, humor, shuffleboard, Latino, kind, surprised, 01 beer/05 beers, Nicolas, slippery, drunk, Kulturhuset, Norway, perfume.

08 hours since last encounter

After a long day at school Nicolas and I decided to have a drink at Kulturhuset. Well, actually the idea was to go for one beer only but Nicolas is a bit stubborn when it comes to alcohol - it’s the Brit inside him - so we ended up drinking way more than we thought we would. We hadn’t eaten anything that day so the beer went quickly to our heads. We were having a good time, jokes here and there. At some point in the night Nicolas went to the toilet so I stayed alone at the table for a few minutes, suddenly Stian approached me speaking in Norwegian. Of course I didn’t understand anything at all so I asked him to please switch to English. He was wondering if my friend and I wanted to play shuffleboard with him and his companion. I told him that sounded interesting but that I had never played shuffleboard before. He insisted, saying that it was not a hard game to play and that he would help us if necessary. Stian introduced us to Cecilie with whom was on a date with. We started playing, Stian and Cecilie against Nicolas and me. What we didn’t know was that apparently Stian was an expert in this game, we were being beaten badly. I improved quickly though, but Nicolas was playing even worse each time, LOL. He will argue it was because of alcohol but I’m sure his shuffleboard skills are just as bad when he’s sober. We talked a little bit about why we had moved to Oslo and what we do for a living. Cecilie – in a very exciting mood- told me that she has many Latino friends and that she loves to dance. Among other things I was surprised by the open mind, friendly, humble, funny and good vibes energy of these two guys. They make a cute couple. Although I must admit that I was trying to get as far away from Cecilie as possible, the perfume she was wearing reminded me of a girl I was dating for a while before. Yep, that didn’t go too well. Anyhow, I haven´t heard from them since that day but I hope Stian and Cecilie got together in the end, I like both a lot.

Después de un largo día en la universidad Nicolas y yo decidimos ir a tomar unos tragos a Kulturhuset. Bueno, en realidad la idea era ir por una cerveza pero Nicolas es algo terco cuando se trata de alcohol –es el británico que tiene dentro- así que terminamos tomando demás. No habíamos comido nada ese día así que la cerveza subió rápidamente a nuestras cabezas. Pasamos un buen rato, bromas por aquí y por allá. En algún momento de la noche Nicolas fue al baño así que me quede solo sentado en la mesa por unos minutos, de pronto Stian se me acerca y me empieza a hablar en noruego. Claro que no entendí nada y le dije que por favor cambiara a inglés. Me pregunto si mi amigo –Nicolas- y yo queríamos jugar Shuffleboard con él y su acompañante. Le dije que sonaba interesante pero que nunca había jugado Shuffleboard pero el insistió en que no era un juego tan difícil y que nos ayudaría de ser necesario. Stian nos presentó a Cecilie –estaban en una cita- y empezamos a jugar, Stian y Cecilie contra Nicolas y yo. Lo que no sabíamos era que aparentemente Stian era un experto en el juego, nos estaban dando una paliza. Yo mejore rápidamente, pero Nicolas cada vez jugaba peor, fue muy divertido. Él dirá que fue por el alcohol pero estoy seguro que sus habilidades para el Shuffleboard son igual de malas cuando esta sobrio. Hablamos un poco acerca de porque nos habíamos mudado a Oslo y que hacíamos por la vida, Cecilie me conto que tiene muchos amigos latinos y que le gusta bailar. Entre otras cosas me sorprendió lo mente abierta, amigables, sencillos, divertidos y las buenas vibras que los dos emitían. Definitivamente hacen una buena pareja pensé. Aunque debo admitir que trataba de alejarme lo más que pueda de Cecilie, el perfume que llevaba me hacía recordar a una chica con la que salía y de la cual no quería saber más nada. No he sabido de ellos desde aquel día pero espero que Stian haya podido conquistar a Cecilie, los dos me caen muy bien.

UNA CERVEZA FABIÁN click 7

Uruguay, South America, impatient, women, first travel outside country, funny, feel related, he was me, Ráfaga, una cerveza, chicha, tram, español.

107 hours since last encounter

I met Fabian in a basement party at Elena’s, although it was Clarissa who invited me. On my way there I got lost a couple of times and it was colder than I thought it would be. It was definitely not my day, I was very tired, sober and somewhat moody, although I decided to go and spend some time there.

Conocí a Fabián en una fiesta en el sótano de la casa de Elena, aunque fue Clarissa la que me invito. En mi camino a allí me perdí un par de veces y hacia más frio del que pensé que haría. Definitivamente no era mi día: estaba muy cansado, sobrio y algo de mal humor, aunque igual decidí pasar un rato por ahí.

Clarissa was very drunk, she is hilarious when she is in that mood. We were outside talking, Fabian joined the conversation at some point. Clarissa said “Hey now you both can speak in South American”, until that moment I thought that Fabian was also Italian. Almost everyone around me was Italian, so it didn’t seem so unlikely that he was too. I noticed an Argentinian accent although in fact Fabian is Uruguayan.

Clarissa estaba muy borracha y es muy divertida cuando esta así. Estábamos fuera, en el patio, conversando y Fabián se unió a la conversación. Clarissa le dijo a Fabián “Hey now you both can speak in South American”, hasta ese momento pensé que Fabián era también italiano. Casi todos a mí alrededor eran italianos, así que no parecía algo tan improbable que él también lo fuera. Noté un acento argentino aunque en realidad Fabián es uruguayo.

It felt good to be able to speak Spanish with someone from your own continent, using very similar slang and having the same sense of humor.

Se sentía bien poder hablar español con alguien de tu mismo continente, usando jergas muy similares y teniendo el mismo sentido del humor.

We took the same bus on our way back that night, Fabian said “Bye” and I went my own way to OSLO S. Since then we became really good friends, we go out to parties, we talk about our perspective on the Norwegian society, etc. I identify myself with him. He is the new guy in town, I remember feeling like that when I arrived; kind of lonely and depressed at times. I always try to keep in touch with him and help him integrate into the city.

Esa noche tomamos el mismo bus de regreso a casa, Fabián se despidió y yo seguí mi camino hacia la estación central de Oslo. Desde aquel entonces Fabián y yo nos hemos vuelto muy buenos amigos, salimos a fiestas, hablamos de nuestra perspectiva acerca de la sociedad noruega, etc. Me siento identificado con él. Es el nuevo chico en la ciudad y yo me había sentido así cuando llegue; algo solitario y deprimido por momentos, así que siempre trato de hablar con él y ayudarlo a integrarse a la ciudad.

The next day after the party at Elena’s house, we decided to predrink together before going to a club. We shared a bottle of rum, playing some Chicha music, apparently our musical tastes weren’t so different. We played over and over again one specific song “Una cerveza” by the Argentinian Chicha band Ráfaga. It was crazy that night, we were very drunk walking to the Tram stop, singing aloud and making jokes –for a minute I felt I was back in Peru- everyone else looked at us as if we were crazy but we were having such a great time. A night to remember definitely. By the way, this is the first time that Fabian left Uruguay, his first time in a plane. Although impatient, stubborn, and sometimes a bit of a jerk - haha - I’m sure he’ll adapt quickly to his new home.

He likes to call me Peruano.

Unos días después de la fiesta en casa de Elena, decidimos juntarnos a previar. Tomamos una botella de ron entre los dos y escuchamos algo de música chicha, al parecer nuestros gustos musicales no eran tan distintos y reproducimos una canción en especial varias veces esa noche “Una cerveza” del grupo argentino Ráfaga. Fue muy divertida esa noche, estábamos muy ebrios y salimos a la calle cantando y haciendo bromas. Todos los demás nos veían como locos pero nosotros estábamos pasando un gran momento. Una noche para recordar definitivamente. Por cierto, esta es la primera vez que Fabián sale de Uruguay, su primera vez en un avión. Aunque es algo impaciente, testarudo y a veces algo pelotudo – jaja -, estoy seguro que se va a adaptar rápido a su nuevo hogar.

TWO FOR ONE LEONIE click ď&#x2122;?8

Germany, nice accent, student house, considered, pro-active, hot, smart, thoughtful, google drive, shadowy, blank space, art, calm, my place, 2x1, underground party, dancing, in motion

66 hours since last encounter

Leonie and I met at the same underground party where I met Fabian, at first she seemed to be shy, calm and a somewhat introverted girl. I was partly wrong, I’ll tell you why later¹ - for now I’ll just say that she also has a fun and wild side. Leonie has a great interest in art so our conversation that night was mainly about it. By the way Leonie is German - making a student exchange in Oslo - and well she didn’t have to tell me since I used to date a German girl also named Leonie. It is a very common name in Germany apparently. We talked and danced for a while that night but to be honest I didn’t feel a click instantly. Next day we decided to go dancing together, we were having a hell of a night and one thing led to the other: we made out and spent a great night together. I definitely believe that that day we clicked - at least I clicked - I met the other side of Leonie which piqued my interest in getting to know her even more. She is one of those persons I’d call 2x1, she has two totally opposite sides each totally captivating at the same time. We usually spend time together every week, we watch a movie, we talk about art, about my art too, about work, and we drink some wine - although Leonie doesn’t like to drink so much however It seems that I’m helping her to change her mind. She is very intelligent, has very accurate and quite analytical comments. Leonie is very curious and a good listener, I enjoy a lot chatting with her, exchange books and readings. It is not only about sex and the physical aspect, we also connect on a rather interesting intellectual level. Reading Species of spaces and other pieces by Georges Perec, while she is lying naked on my bed. Beautiful image in my mind. PARENTAL ADVISORY Explicit content ¹ Quote of a FB conversation with Leonie. “How you touched me last night was crazy...sculptor hands. I am wild now...I am touching myself...imagining your fingers moving down my back finding their way inside me ...deep inside the warm wet...moving vibrant...my orgasm is developing ...waves moving through me...I know it will be an extreme orgasm when I am full of those before-orgasm-waves...you leave me to find a condom ...I am laying there...waiting...waiting...creating more wildness inside...now you are deep inside of me and moving full of energy...hard...harder...waves getting extreme...waves flowing into my orgasm ...your orgasm”

Conocí a Leonie en la misma fiesta underground en la que conocí a Fabián, al principio parecía ser una chica tímida, calmada y algo introvertida. Estaba parcialmente equivocado, ya les contare por qué –por ahora solo diré que también tiene un lado divertido y salvaje-. Leonie tiene un gran interés en el arte y nuestra conversación aquella noche fue principalmente acerca de eso. Por cierto Leonie es Alemana –haciendo un intercambio de estudiante en Oslo- y bueno no tuvo que decírmelo ya que solía salir con una chica alemana llamada Leonie. Es un nombre muy común en Alemania al parecer. Ella y yo conversamos por un rato aquella noche, bailamos un poco pero para ser honesto no sentí un click al instante. Al día siguiente decidimos juntarnos para salir a bailar, la pasamos bien y bueno una cosa llevo a la otra, terminamos besándonos y pasando una gran noche juntos. Definitivamente creo que ese día hicimos click –al menos yo hice click-, conocí el otro lado de Leonie el cual despertó bastante mi interés en conocerla aún más. Es de esas personas a las que llamaría 2x1, tienen dos lados tan opuestos pero totalmente cautivadores al mismo tiempo. Solemos pasar tiempo juntos cada semana, vemos una película, conversamos sobre arte, sobre mi arte también, el trabajo, tomamos algo de vino –aunque a Leonie no le gusta tomar tanto, pero parece que la estoy ayudando a cambiar de opinión-. Ella es muy inteligente, tiene comentarios muy acertados y bastante analíticos. Es muy curiosa y sabe escuchar, es un placer poder conversar con ella, intercambiar libros y lecturas. No es solamente acerca del sexo y la parte física, nos conectamos también en un nivel intelectual bastante interesante. Leyendo “Species of Spaces and Other Pieces” de Georges Perec, mientras se recuesta desnuda sobre mi cama. Bella imagen.

*The content of this conversation has been approved for publishing by Leonie.

LEGALIZE THOMAS click 9

Boyfriend, martial arts background, interesting, Blå, bushy beard, photo by mistake, Norway, legalizing marijuana, DEA, boobs, religion, beers, no dancing, skeleton and a penis, drawing, pink

32 hours since last encounter

That day a group of friends and I went to Eva’s house to have a drink and some Italian dinner. By the way, Eva is the girl that Andrea gave the tally counter to. Small world, Eva is also a student in KHIO, first year Fashion Design Bachelor.

Aquel día Eva, Clarissa y su amigo, y yo fuimos a casa de Eva a tomar algo y tener una cena al estilo italiano. Por cierto, Eva es la chica a la que Andrea le dio el contador y por si fuera poca coincidencia Eva también es una estudiante en KHIO, mi universidad.

We went to Blå to clear the mind, have a chill time and dance. As soon as we walked in, Eva met one of her best friends from the past, it had been almost 7 years since the last time they have seen each other. Her name is Monica, she was together with a guy named Thomas. To be honest, I thought they were a couple.

Decidimos ir a Blå a pasar un buen rato y bailar. Eva se encontró con una de sus mejores amigas del pasado, hace casi 7 años que no se veían. Su nombre era Monica, ella andaba acompañada de Thomas y bueno al instante pensé que Thomas y ella eran novios.

Eva and Monica seemed to be living in a parallel dimension to the rest of us, they were talking for ages oblivious to us, and obviously I didn’t understand anything at all because they were speaking in Norwegian. Despite my language exchange sessions with Sunniva my Norwegian is still a disaster. But hey, back to the club. Thomas and I bought some beers, at first we didn’t talk much but then we started to exchange ideas on topics like: Legalization of marijuana, DEA, breasts, religion, martial arts, etc. A very varied and exciting conversation I would say.

Eva y Monica parecían estar en una dimensión paralela, se sentaron a hablar por horas, obvio que yo no entendía nada porque estaban hablando en noruego y a pesar de mi intercambio de idioma con Sunniva mi noruego sigue siendo un desastre. Pero bueno, de vuelta al bar. Thomas y yo empezamos a conversar mientras nos tomábamos una cerveza, al principio no conversamos mucho pero luego empezamos a intercambiar ideas sobre temas como: Legalización de la marihuana, la DEA, senos, religión, artes marciales, etc. Una conversación bastante variada y emocionante.

Thomas likes to draw, he showed me one of his drawings: a skull and a penis, it made sense. Thomas studied religious history and applied linguistics, but you couldn’t tell from his badass appearance. This was probably why that kind of drawing he drew didn’t surprise me so much, it was a perfect representation of Thomas way of being; that sarcastic and twisted humor he has.

Thomas me dijo que le gustaba dibujar y me mostro un dibujo suyo de un cráneo y un pene, tenía sentido. Thomas estudio la historia de la religión y lingüística aplicada, además tiene un aspecto algo badass. Probablemente fue por eso que ese dibujo no me llego a sorprender tanto, era una representación perfecta de la manera de ser de Thomas; ese humor sarcástico y torcido que él tiene.

I think Thomas doesn’t like to dance, but it’s understandable, he doesn’t look like a guy who likes to and even less hip hop music. Anyway this is not so relevant, the relevant thing is I realized Monica and he weren’t a couple. That because just moments ago on the dance floor, we witnessed Monica dancing in a very sexy/close way with a guy, a pretty blatant action considering that her boyfriend was in the same club. But of course, I didn’t pay enough attention to details that night, so I deliberately judged her. Shortly after I found out they were just good friends.

Creo que a Thomas no le gusta bailar, pero es entendible, no tiene la pinta de un chico que le guste bailar y mucho menos hip hop. De todas formas esto no es tan relevante, lo relevante es cuando me di cuenta que Monica y él no eran pareja. Cuando momentos atrás en la pista de baile Monica empezó a bailar de una manera bastante sexy y cercana con un chico, una acción bastante descarada considerando que su novio estaba en el espacio contiguo. Pero claro, yo no había prestado suficiente atención a los detalles, así que la juzgue gratuitamente. Poco después supe que solo eran amigos.

I felt bad, for a minute, I felt bad for Thomas even though I didn’t know him almost at all. But this kind / good guy deserved better, I thought. That’s when the click happened, for the empathy I developed for him during a few hours that night.

Me sentí mal, por un minuto, me sentí mal por Thomas a pesar de que no lo conocía casi en absoluto. Pero este tipo buena gente y chistoso merecía algo mejor, pensé. Ahí fue cuando vino el click.

Cheers for that Thomas.

Salud por eso Thomas.

THE CLICK.

WHEN DO WE STOP BEING STRANGERS?

In the following lines I will try to explore and draw from my own experience, the particularities of that moment in which we stop being strangers with each other. That moment and/or situation that I would like to call it the click. So what do I mean by the click. In my way of seeing it, the click is when we navigate the city either for the first time or for the hundredth we do so by letting our senses-intuition guide us. When we allowe the Other to acknowledge our very own existence that is to make room for an interaction, we are refusing to be invisible within that specific situation. Situations can occur unpredictably with certain strangers. Strangers with whom we may share similar interests, feelings, vibrations, habits, thoughts, ideals, etc. In that stranger we are able to recognize something very simple but meaningful, we recognize a potential. The potential to become something more than newly acquainted strangers. In this stranger we may project our desires, hopes, needs and our loneliness or indeed our craving for togetherness. This understanding that that person could add to our own lived experience and who knows could complete us as human beings in one way or another: becoming a friend, a lover, a partner, a boy/girlfriend, etc. The present is at once both fortuitous yet accidental. Whether consciously or unconsciously we are forced to share the public space with other strangers (often by coincidence) and that is when our ability to exercise our freedom of decision can be activated. If we decide to show ourselves we cease to be invisible and in doing so, what we are really doing is to create awareness in the other that we do exist, that we are present breathing the same air, that we are both human beings, that we also have feelings: doubts, joy, sorrow, happiness, etc. What these encounters bring is first of all a constant rediscovery of ourselves as a person, we gain a greater understanding of the texture of our daily life. We inhabit the city in a more conscious way. We generate empathy for the other, appreciate our collective existence, and shape our own identity. We begin to care for the other, we start feeling a sense of belonging, become close. Through these encounters we develop a greater capacity to decide when an unplanned-spontaneous encounter is meaningful enough. And by meaningful what I understand is a mutual consensus based on a significant exchange of connected small gestures². But what does it mean to be the other? What it means to be a stranger? For me to be the other means being serendipitously strange. The other is a person that apparently is not part of our

daily life but it becomes just that - incidentally - in a certain time and space. Quoting Kio Stark during her TED talk Why you should talk with strangers, says as following: “When you talk to strangers, you’re making beautiful interruptions into the expected narrative of your daily life - and theirs.” Through I Believe in The Click I have been able to understand to a greater extent what merging art with my daily life means to me: For me art is particularly that small gesture; Art is love made public, art is that meaningful pause in time, art is a beautiful mistake in the open and it is also about finding harmony – but not a perfect harmony - in a specific point in time. An accessible artwork that is easy to relate with, an artwork that is on the periphery, at the edges. It is a journey from the individual to the collective and goes back to the particularity and uniqueness of each one of us. This diary is not a conclusive homage to daily life, the unknown, the present or the future. It is a personal attempt to explore new ways of interacting with the other. The city is definitely a space to be wrong, to be surprised, in which many elements are uncontrollable and where new methods-strategies of togetherness are constantly tried. This is my personal journey through a variety of spontaneous encounters with people that have left an important trace in my life, this is me sharing a piece of my life and art intertwined on a daily basis, an episodic chain of meaningful momentary closeness. Let me tell you a last thing which I deeply believe in. When we see a person on the street walking his/her dog, we instinctively tend to feel more at ease with that person, feel safer to throw a smile or start a conversation. The dog, in that scenario, becomes a connector of people. Within this project “art” is the dog. For the record, from now on I never walk the city alone, I always walk next to my dog.

² a small gesture is related to the simple of the ordinary (a smile, a meeting of eyes, a good day greeting, a conversation, open the door for someone else or even just listen to a stranger), to look with other eyes. It is small - not necessarily in scale - but it is small because it is tender, subtle, sometimes mischievous, but always significant. It is small because it is as genuine as a baby (babies don’t lie) and therefore we trust in it.

Former strangers

About the Artist

Andrea Gino Sunniva Dumond Clarissa Graziosi Ahmad Elena Bellavere Cecilie Sunde Stian Midtal Fabián Andrés Revetria Leonie Görlitz Thomas Holme

Rodrigo Ghattas (b.1989) is a Peruvian/Palestinian social artist and cultural producer. He holds a BFA in Sculpture from PUCP (Peru) and is a current MFA Art and Public Space candidate at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts. Ghattas is the founder and Director of Machaqmara Center for the Arts (MQA) which he has been running since 2014. Since 2016 he has been working as a collaborator with OSLO PILOT. His practice concerns the perception of public space and connections with temporality and social discovery, new visions of the unfamiliar within everyday settings. Ghattas has exhibited in local and international group shows in countries such as Thailand, U.S.A, Italy, Norway and Peru.

My deepest thanks to all of you my dear strangers. www.artandpublicspace.net