Having participated in phase one of the project as one of the artists in hospitals, it is a very different engagement as in this phase I am linking up from my studio.

I am paired with Sally in Hospital E. I am very much aware of the difference of space/ set-up which we both work in: whilst the artists in hospitals are working within an environment of mostly unpredictable parametres I am on my own , and there is no direct engagement with children, staff, hospital routines and procedures. Still this does not mean that I can fully prepare and set up for the Link ups- as their timing and content can only be planned to a certain extend. So far I ve tried to see my role much more reacting than initiating. Which means I am slightly prepared for a theme which Sally suggests- in these two weeks it was journey /under the sea - and have materials and props at hand which will allow me to improvise and create quickly when a link up happens.

Yesterday was my second day on the Puppet Portal Project phase 2, however the first that Link ups did happen. In both Sally had prepared a stage and puppets with each time a girl, during Link ups there was engagement between the girls�puppets and my puppet. I was amazed by the level of engagement of the children:they both were really eager and happy to both, perform and communicate, and really seamed to enjoy the converstaion with the puppet in the other screen window.

In the first case I used Rudi the sock puppet, whom I had picked with the intention to maybe have "Rudi Reporter" as a constant figure during all link ups. However he became more of a curious character who lived under the sea as well and was introducedd to an underwater fairy called Strawberry, a bright organge Nemo-like fish and a shark- performed by Sally-which he was very scared of. (One could see there had been serious puppet making going on!) Once Rudi and the fairy had "made freinds", Sally proposed to the girl to perform a show which -it looks like- they had prepared and rehearsed beforehand. Rudi got his friends (a pingu -toy and a seal-candle) to sit and watch as well, so whilst the puppet show was performed in window one, in the other rthe three spectators would react. I am not sure if that was of any use- I only later realized that during this time , the girl was probably busy performing, and there seamed to be more, and "real" audience as well. However, she did actually react when Rudi puppet hid with fear as the shark apperaed, as she speaded up the story: "He s good now, come back Rudi!".

It was a very beautiful engagement, and I could hear that the girl was not only proud but then also eager to continue puppet making. She had obviously found an activity which I imagine she will continue  exploring!

So it was a quite prompt ending (after final applaus) as she seamed to rush back to scissors and papers immediately, not without saying though "if I make more , can I show them to Rudi later?!" 

I had then prepared a paper mermaid to possibly link up with her later (I thought this d be a suitable friend for Strawberry) but it wsa another girl I linkd up with in the afternoon. She aso had prepared a seascape and puppets -one being a Mermaid!- and we had a lovely converstaion about how we brush our Mermaids hair and other important girls talk, I also witnessed a fish showing his most speedy racng-through-seaweed skills.

After a while though the girls hands got tires, - I was so involved in our little game and I guess being detached from the hospital environment and not seeing the child behind the puppets adds as well- that I d totally forgot that side of the story!

It made me aware again of the huge difference of being in the hospital where you re constantly confronted with and reminded of the fact that children there are tired, sick and sometimes quite low energy. I remember from phase 1 that even if for a split of a second you nearly forget where you are, as you re fully engaged with children in the making of a puppet, a story, or a moment of play- I always wore a second hat, fully aware of the environment I was in.

I am curious to hear from Sally the othr side of the link ups, and will contact her during the week. I feel we both will benefit from a little evaluation after these link ups- especially since, even though the moments di�ring link ups are shared, we work with so different challenges.

I would have loved to screen capture the link ups as well and was in contact with Helene, Helium s artistic director, between link ups, trying to work through necessary steps of facilitating this. It helped me to know that, apart from the busy artists in the hospitals, there is always someone in the background to contact as well: either from Helium or at Trinity/ the centre for Health and informatics. This is a privilege being able to download software, accustomize myself with it and work through technical difficulties with support, during a PPP day, for which in the hospital there s no time. Even more so I feel the recoding /capturing is sth were I can rteally help and take pressure of the artists in hospitals. However having all this time did not help yesterday, as the second link up was quite late when I somehow had not expected it anymore, so I wasn t prepared! Next time I ll know better.