Ongoing durational writing, 2011 –

Multimedia artist Jo-Anne Duggan passed away in 2011. We visited her for the last time in Noosa, Queensland in December 2010 knowing it was the last time we would see one another. How horrible a farewell always is, with the taxi coming, the practicalities of opening the car door, a quick hug in front of an impatient driver, a ‘see you soon’ that was swallowed just in time!

That last fleeting glimpse of Jo-Anne as the taxi pulled away gave birth to Penelope; to writing as weaving and re-weaving like Penelope’s shroud. On a wooden board we write that final farewell again and again, capturing the last disappearing glimpse and never managing to catch it, and then writing it again until it becomes like Penelope’s shroud: ‘When it was done she washed it and showed it to us / And it shone like the sun or the moon’ (Odyssey Book 24, ll. 153-4). You can find more info about Jo-Anne Duggan here.