Impossible Threads

Another trip into Canterbury city centre prompted another day of confusion and discovery. We visited a charity shop as Ridley had a desire to be clothed. I think this comes from the issue of acceptance and to try something new.  Adapting the clothes to fit could prove to be difficult but that is to be seen. I have found Ridley's wood exterior to be a natural guise for him to be in. I have not felt the need to clothe him until this point. I think it will make for an interesting change to discover how this will effect his movement and behaviour. His exterior form will be similar to the rest of us and this may change my and others attitudes towards him. I see him as an alien object which I have have begun to accept and learned to live with. At times however there is a real sense of unity when manipulating him and the introduction of clothes may disrupt this. Wood was a personal choice, and to cover it saddens me a little. 

We also went to The Beaney (a museum and library in Canterbury), here Ridley witnessed taxidermy animals and globes of the world. I'm not sure what the staff made of Ridley peering into the shining plastic eyes of a dead fox. Introducing once alive creatures that were now still and lifeless provoked the issue of mortality.  A human's death is measured biologically, but the same can not be applied to Ridley His form could be claimed as immortal as he could be stored and kept whole, however the potencial to hold forms of "life" would only remain. Once no-one applies "life" to him he ceases to hold it. Thoughts turned to after these two weeks and what will be his fate. The conclusion performance on the 20th Ridley will be removed from my body, is this his death? The fact that he was never biologically alive changes the perception of death. Biologically he is dead, yet he moves and has his own persona; these belong to the people's perceptions, which forms the base of Ridley's "life".

As I have previously mentioned that once at home I do not feel the need to animate Ridley. This has provoked unique reactions from some of the people I live with: they do not see "Ridley" but just the materials that form his shape. They never witness him moving fully they only see him as an inconvenience that holds no other character. It demonstrates how people can react to the same object differently when exposed to it in different ways. This also highlights the "life" Ridley holds and the impossible thread from which it is hanging from. 

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