Vest Yourself In Me

David Shrigley




I have been having transcendental swimming experiences recently. When I swim I seem able to disconnect myself from myself, or my mind from my body (although I don't want to be all dualist here) and I listen to the sound of my breathing, and the exhalation growl I can't help but make. It is a sensual experience at what is for me, a sensual time of day. The end of the day. The combination of skin, light and water. I stop sometimes to look at the sky, and then to look at the other people in the pool. It feels like a very gentle time of day. I feel as if time is malleable sometimes, as if I can extend day if I choose to. Cyril Collard in Savage Nights talks about "the hour of the wolf" - that half-light dusky moment between day and night. In Swedish it is called Vargtimmen, and in Danish it is called Ulvetimen. Do we have a word for it? Is it because that quality of light is so present in the north of the northern hemisphere? I find this interesting because of the problems/concerns I have with light (I can just hear AC and AB laughing or groaning), and specifically the emotional effects of light on people. I remeber the sky after I had gone to the airport in Dublin one evening, and the light was the most beautiful I have ever seen - a weak, streaky yet bright light quite late into the evening. The light was one of the only things I really loved about Dublin. In summer it isn't fully dark until about 10.00pm. This extended light makes me feel secure, safe, brave, excited.....