With international travel effectively shut down for the past 12 months (unless you're the person who returned to Aberdeen from Brasil!) it's fair to say that many have been struggling without their usual dose of wanderlust and adventure. For many their daily grind is made bearable by the knowledge of their imminent boarding of a plane to their chosen destination, whether that's to sit by a pool in Spain or to explore a bit deeper into foreign lands and cultures but at the moment neither is an option.
I'd be lying if I said I haven't missed travelling a bit. My last trip was a whirlwind jaunt to London for the debut SNIK exhibition followed by a visit to Liverpool to catch some Keith Haring's in the flesh. Although still on UK soil, these mini adventures can be just as nourishing as the trips abroad and exploring is fun regardless of where you go. Being denied either option has been fine when looking at the bigger picture of how this virus is spreading and on balance I'm happy to do my part. And in all fairness for someone who spends a large portion of his time online, I've found other avenues to get my travel kicks, one of these being via the work of The Jaunt.
If you're following my instagram then you've hopefully seen a few story shares and posts about The Jaunt and their work. The concept is simple, send an artist to a new place, city, country, continent and allow them to explore their destination. At the end of the trip the artists return home and try to distil their adventure into a limited edition screen print. Founder Jeroen Smeets gives a better summary below.
"The concept is simple: we find an artist and send them on a trip to anywhere in the world that they have never been before. The artist then soaks up all of the local impressions and inspirations at their destination. From freshly brewed local coffee to small boutiques, neoclassical architecture, overcrowded tourist sights or whatever else comes across their path. The artists also document their adventures and impressions in a travel blog that can be followed online, which gives even more insight into the artist’s perspective. Each destination and artist is different, making each trip truly unique."
Utilising his contacts and working with a host of incredible artists and master printer Joris Diks, The Jaunt model has proven to be quite successful and pulls together a lot of cool elements which makes the overall package quite special. Their website and instagram provide insight into the trips with mini diary posts, snippets of sketchbooks and recounted blog tales of adventures helping to add context and insight to the finished prints. Along with the prints Jeroen has produced two books which bring together all of the above and provide a view of each destination from the artists perspective, the mini adventures they undertook and of course some of the important people they met along the way. Reading The Jaunt Book 1 really reminded me of the best bits about travelling and the joy of exploring a new place as I experienced Helsinki, Riga and even Glasgow through the eyes of another. It also reminded me that I was slow to the party and had missed out on some amazing prints by favourites like Tim Biskup & David Shillinglaw but if I've learned anything in the last 12 months its to be thankful for what I have.
Of course Covid really messed with future plans for the Jaunt as pretty much all their trips for 2020 had to be postponed. Street artist Swoon was actually on her trip when travel bans and restrictions came into place last March while she was on a meditative no phone retreat in Sri Lanka. It must have been kinda scary to finally turn on the wifi and see what has been happening across the globe. Still she managed to produce two really beautiful prints and as I'd already supported her trip I got a nice suprise when her print arrived in the summer (copies still available here). I should say that early supporters can secure a print for half of their finished retail price which helps to fund each trip and there's something really exciting about not knowing what's gonna arrive til its on your doorstep.
In the face of everything that last year threw at us you could forgive the Jaunt for taking a step back and waiting for things to settle down. Instead they flipped the concept and curated a series of alternative trips which brought viewers into artists studios with online talks and special events. Artists might not have been able to get on a plane but 2020 was the year of exploring what's outside your own door, a concept that I'm sure resonates with many of us. American artist Anna Valdez laments her Jaunt experience below.
"Originally we had planned for a trip to Anchorage, Alaska, where I imagined I would be drawing directly from the landscape and painting in plein air. For the time being, COVID-19 halted our plans for this visual adventure. Instead it was fun to think of my everyday studio life as an artist residency outside of the ordinary. I began engaging in social media a bit differently, by inviting the online community into my studio and process each day, I was provided a different perspective through the lens of audience engagement. This ended up being a new way to enjoy my studio, not only as work space, but also as a tutorial space."
With things still very much up in the air for 2021 I'm glad the team have managed to get two new trips going, Jaunt 70 & 71 with Jason Woodside venturing out in his native New Zealand in his custom Cortex Cruiser (check it) and a second trip for Jordy van der Nieuwendijk who's heading to Tasmania. Fingers crossed they'll both get to their destinations and can enjoy the experience as it still seems like were all taking one step forward and 2 back. For now I'm settling for a jaunt to the local woods and trying to avoid the usual busy hotspots like the beach and the old Deeside railway line. But to be honest the feeling of discovering a new woody or walking route with in the city limits is enough for now and is giving me enough good feels, especially with the weather change from ten feet of snow to 11 degree sunshine (tropical for Aberdeen).
And when that starts to wear thin I can turn to The Jaunt for a look at places a bit further afield and of course for some creative inspiration. If you're missing the adventure then check out The Jaunt for some wanderlust wonderfulness and take a dive into their print archive cause if we're not gonna be travelling you might as well have nice walls to look at at home!
