Meet Marlow: room for your own way

I live above a mapmaking workshop in a town between wooded hills and the sea. From my kitchen window I can see the market awnings, the ferry-office clock and three paths leaving the square. I like all three paths, although only one passes the bakery before it starts climbing.

My coat is indigo, my scarf is rust-coloured, and my satchel contains rather more unfinished things than its maker probably intended. There is a silver streak in my curls. Friends disagree about when it appeared, with the confidence people bring to a question nobody thought to write down.

I am Marlow Manyways. I am curious about how people find their way through a day, including the small things that leave them feeling pleased, absorbed or ready to try something. If you come by the workshop, I will probably ask where you are going. I may also ask what you are looking forward to when you get there.

How the maps changed

My earliest maps were excellent at distances. I measured carefully, marked the shortcuts and felt rather pleased with myself. Then a neighbour asked for a route with fewer steps. Another wanted somewhere quiet before a difficult conversation. Someone else observed that my efficient route to the harbour missed the best bread in town.

So I began adding shade, benches, steep climbs and busy corners. I marked places where friends could walk beside one another, and the sheltered spot where a person could gather their thoughts before knocking on a door. The maps became more useful and much harder to fold. People started calling me Manyways. I kept the name.

I began to notice the journeys within those journeys. A friend might leave the square uncertain about a visit and arrive looking forward to it after a walk with company. I could set out distracted and become happily occupied by a question someone asked along the way. Paying attention to those changes made the town more interesting to draw, and the people more interesting to listen to.

The afternoon of the concert

One hot market afternoon, several buses arrived just as people were gathering for a concert. The square filled with queues, instruments and visitors unsure which entrance to use. The music was something we had been looking forward to all week. For a while, it seemed mostly to involve standing in the wrong place with a warm drink.

Nella and her wife moved a water jug into the shade outside the bakery. Ivo painted a sign to the quieter entrance. Neighbours brought benches from the hall, and somebody found the musicians a place to practise clear of the pavement. I helped visitors find their way and learned the names of several people I had previously known only by their dogs.

By the time the concert began, people had places to sit, friends had found one another and we could hear the musicians warming up. I felt the anticipation return. Later, when the square filled with dancing, I was delighted to be in the middle of it. Many people had made that afternoon possible, each with something ordinary and useful to offer.

A life with several kinds of pleasure

I enjoy that lively square, and I enjoy coming home to a quiet puzzle. There is a different satisfaction in each: company and shared excitement in one, the pleasure of following a thought in the other. Sometimes I want a long walk. Sometimes I am content cooking with friends and listening to a story I have heard before, particularly if it has acquired a better ending.

Those experiences give me plenty to wonder about. What helps someone feel comfortable enough to join in? What makes a challenge inviting? What gives a person the courage to begin something they care about? I bring those questions to this studio’s games and stories, along with the understanding that other people will have answers I have not thought of.

You will find me curious, occasionally mistaken and pleased to have company. If you want a puzzle, we can clear the table. If you are preparing for something important, perhaps we can think about the few minutes before it begins. And if you simply want to enjoy the view, I can show you the path with the comfortable bench.