> stills and quotes > installation views

never neverland
excerpts

... I was just working a stupid job and not feeling good and not wanting to be in the city. And Sara said, come live with me out in the desert. And I said, ok. I kind of just took a chance and quit my job and came out here ‘cause I just wanted to make art. Also, I had a birthday where I was like, shit, I don’t like the way my life is going. I just feel like I am working to have a life that is comfortable but not stimulating. So I wanted to take a break from living in the city and being around lots of people and having a role …   (D., East Jesus)

... Different groups of people come out to the desert because you can do whatever you want here. The desert is where a lot of young people go to take psychedelics, which is another thing why I was a little hesitant, because I personally hate hippies. And there is a certain aesthetic that people think of when they think about the desert.  But that’s why it’s exciting to be out here, to forge new ideas. (D., East Jesus)

The care of people on an individual level has disappeared. The main concern is profit and more power... I think one of the bravest thing people can do these days is to truly just care for someone. Especially where I am from, you are taught to just care for yourself because you have to. That’s how the system works. People have been so individualized. I feel like I am just reciting things, but with technology it’s really easy to just exist in your own bubble; and you have all these devices that pacify you and leave you totally comfortable and not having to think about what is the direction of my community is growing, what is my community in general. What structure am I engaged with that isn’t just me and my friends, my immediate friends. I don’t know, I get scared when I think about it too much because it is really scary. It seems like the moment the shit hits the fan, whether medically or financially, you are staring into a void of: Oh God, nobody cares. Maybe it’s different in other parts of the world. But that’s why it’s nice to come to places like this where a lot of people go if they are at zero. And even if you are not at zero, I think it’s productive to come out here… (D., East Jesus)

When I started this 20 years ago, my idea was just to leave a small corner of the planet more beautiful than I found it. And then it became a kind of project like this, you know, bigger and bigger. I just started with the first plant, the second and so on. Twenty years ago this was a cornfield, there was not a single tree. And now you can imagine, you know each plant, each corner, how you got it, what happened to it, the whole history is here. And at the same time you aware of how fast these 20 years have passed and how quickly your whole life will be over... (Dhiraj, Pachamama)

We started with eco building, with natural gardening, using bio dynamics then permaculture and so on but I’m especially fond of experimenting with different styles of building, finding the cheapest way of building in the fastest and most insulating way, not using much for winter heating. This makes me happy. I think this is an opportunity for young families which don’t have much money to build really a quality house in a very cheap and very good way. Otherwise I do a lot of things with wood, especially woodturning. it’s just an experiment. I think the whole life is just an experiment. And that means you cannot do much wrong whatever you do. The main point is if you enjoy what you are doing. (Dhiraj, Pachamama)

It’s nice to recycle. It's helpful if you don’t have a lot of money. Also the creativity comes when you don’t have a lot of money. You have to be creative to survive, to live. Me and my husband made this together. It was really nice: We had a dream and we said, let’s do this! Ok! Dreams never finish… but they say if you stop dreaming you’re dead. (Luz, Pachamama)

It would be very nice to be totally self sustainable, but not only is it difficult, but also the system is very clever, very intelligent how to find you and to get money from you. And then you are somehow pressed to produce more than you need because so many bills are coming and you have to pay them. You are in this system, you can't declare your independence, or they will destroy you. So you may dream a little bit to be independent with the garden, with food, but in reality it's a bit more difficult. But I think we live in the time of changes and also these will change. Examples like us here, I hope will serve somehow others to lift their consciousness a little bit, to start thinking on their own, not just to obey and follow, but to find your mission, to find what you like to do, what makes you happy. I don't have a job, I left my job twenty years ago but I have still somehow survived. Everyone will survive somehow, but you need a peace of land and a little bit, I won't say skills, but motivation, a little bit of motivation to live in that way. (Dhiraj, Pachamama)

I’ve been in social work for 20 years, mainly with young people with “original behaviour”, also called, “creative behaviour”, “difficult” “problem children”... I’ve been running Momoland for ten years now and it is just bearing fruit, so that holiday camps are possible, ever more live-in groups are coming here and using this site, and there is adult education, after-school care etc... I cultivate a hectare of land here. I make it available to people who mature here, who can deal with deficiencies productively, where it’s also a therapeutic experience. It’s a question of identity-finding. We don’t have a magic recipe. But as long as I live this place will be cultivated, it won’t be treated with artificial fertilisers. Here I’m trying to integrate myself in a permaculture way, or just on the sustainability principle. (Gert, Momoland)

... Seen from the social-work, psychological perspective, this is simply wonderful that the group, the supportive culture of people who appreciate one another, who let one another be like every individual is and nevertheless integrate into the community and give one another a wonderful time. On the other hand I think this is also a chance to face the stress of this fast living and – accompanied by like-minded people – to manage to put the brakes on a bit. (Gert, Momoland)

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