Katie McGown

Thursday February 19th, 2009 : 6285, 54

Steps

(step 4559)

6285 steps

4.27 kilometers walked

Stitches

(the border)

54 meters of thread stitched

Wednesday February 18th, 2009: 5792, 60

Steps

(step 3655)

3655 steps

3.49 kilometers walked

The temperature has warmed by just a few degrees, but enough to make it feel like a change in seasons. My body stretches out on the way to work, losing its winter hunch. We watch a movie set in Rome in the spring and although it's in black and white and although they never mentioned the weather, you could see the warmth in the way they skipped down the steps. Just a small increase in heat and all of our movements are more expansive and loose.

Stitches

(getting closer to 1000 meters)

60 meters of thread stitched

I sew in the evenings, the motor of the machine shaking my desk as I stop, start, stop, turn. I have a sense that the neighbours below can't stand me at all. 

Monday February 16th, 2009 : 7174, 48

Steps

(step 5106)

7174 steps

4.87 kilometers walked

To the train, to the office, out of the office, over the bridge, past the buds, to the train, back home. Everyone seemed pleased that Monday had ended.

Stitches

(a decreased corner)

64 meters of thread stitched

Since the time I started, each side of the square has become shorter and shorter. Unbelievably, due to the thickness of the thread and the wrinkling of the cloth, the edges that were 100 cm long are now closer to 75 cm. Almost 25 cm eaten up over the past couple of weeks.

Sunday February 15th, 2009 : 5547, 32

Steps

(step 2544)

5547 steps

3.77 kilometers walked

Travelled to the studio to perform the kind of slow and methodical tasks that are therapeutic for a mild hangover. Outside the entrance to the building there is always an array of excrement: deflated and crusty piles of dog shit, pools of urine pissed against the door, seeping through to the hallway. I practice strict rituals when unlocking the door, averting my eyes from the crap, a wide walk and leap over the stinking yellow puddle. But today I arrive and there is nothing and my stride is light and unbroken.

Stitches

(circular edges)

32 meters of thread stitched

Everything is turning round.

Saturday February 14th, 2009 : 14738, 0

Steps

(2042 step/rotation)

14738 steps

10.2 kilometers walked

I took my pedometer on my bike for the first time today. Because of this I have no idea how many steps I took. I think it's likely that it recorded every rotation of the pedals as I crossed the city, back and forth. As though I was running fast enough to reach the end of a block in just a few strides, or go down a hill in one long leap.

Stitches

0 meters of thread stitched

I went dancing instead. My pedometer stayed at home, so I don't yet know how it will quantify my dance moves.

Friday February 13th, 2009: 6862, 88

Steps

(step 5983)

6862 steps taken

4.66 kilometers walked

I understand that my pedometer is not entirely accurate. When I adjusted it on the first day we did some tests. I walked for a couple of dozen steps and it measured dozens of additional phantom pace. I reduced its sensitivity dial to the lowest setting. I then walked 100 steps and it measured 100 steps. Next I walked 100 steps and it measured 98. This is pretty good. Especially since I can't be sure I counted accurately the second time. I think I forgot what I was doing half way through the test. I know that over the course of the day, the pedometer will again measure phantom steps, count movements that shouldn't be counted. Because of this, the number of steps is more of a ratio than a count, a number that's only given integrity in context with the other number of steps from the other days.

Stitches

(after almost 600 meters)

88 meters of thread stitched

I sew quickly and without accuracy. It's getting increasingly awkward to maneuver the fabric under the foot of the machine, the overlapping thread is so rigid, the surrounding cotton is so puckered. I hold the coarse black ridge in place and guide it through, my fingers smart from the friction.

Thursday February 12th, 2009 : 5438, 20

Steps

(step 2276)

5438 steps

3.69 kilometers walked

Somehow I did all of the normal things I normally do. Somehow I walked hundreds of less steps.

Stitches

(the underside of 500m)

20 meters of thread stitched

The thread of the bobbin shifted out of place, leaving the bottom of the stitches in loose loops. 

Tuesday February 10th, 2009: 8583, 130

Steps

(step 8580)

8583 steps

5.93 kilometers walked

The snow has stayed on the ground for longer than I've ever seen over here. The vacant lot across from the office is still a perfect white rectangle, unmelted even in the bright sun. Groups of kids swept our street in the dark, picking up the snow in hard-packed handfuls, throwing it quickly and indiscriminately. A rare currency to be forcefully collected. Now everything around here is green again.

Stitches

(no more thread)

130 meters of thread stitched

Almost half of the kilometer has been sewn into the fabric, the remaining meters still clinging to the bobbin. I've wanted to see the white of this spool for days.

Monday February 9th, 2009 : 13336, 82

Steps

(Step 2228)

13336 steps

9.06 kilometers walked

My pedometer has a tiny pendulum.  Or a small coil. I can hear it thump if I turn it over. This is the mechanical echo that follows me now, going back and forth with the movement of my left hip. 

To be honest I was hoping for a mercury switch; I've always loved their elegance. Clearly there would be health risks to walking around with a tiny glass ampoule full of mercury, but that's the kind of danger and threat that should accompany the otherwise quiet counting of steps.

Stitches

 

(the shape)

82 meters of thread stitched

For the first couple hundred meters of thread, the border remained a line, a thickening line, but still something defined mostly by one dimension. Now, it has shifted to an area, a shape, a dark square buckling the fabric. The thread is now too thick to sew through, so I sew lines on the inside of the shape, making it wider with each turn. Reinforcing the ripples.

Sunday February 8th, 2009 : 6564, 40

Steps

(step 1237)

6564 steps

4.46 kilometers walked

To the train, to the gym, to the studio, to the train, back to the house. Every distance travelled was measured today, three train rides, 100 lengths of the pool, 6564 steps. I unclip the pedometer as soon as I get home. Those steps are never counted.

Stitches

(Just after the 40th meter of the day)

40 meters of thread stitched

I stitched quickly and with purpose while I watched movie stars in the rain and heard jokes I remember from a year ago.