BCN - Ceciles Interview on Nunomad

New Remote Office Space for Nu Nomads - BCN Port in the Mojave Desert!

This week I interviewed Cecile Bouchier, the newest
"fairchise"owner with BusinessClass.net. Founded in Berlin,
BusinessClass.net aimsto bring remote office facilities to nomads on
the go. A formertraveling worker and current artist, Cecile provides
not only officespace in the Mojave Desert but a dwelling place to
nomads as well. Readon..
Cecile, I see from your web
site that you are an artist with ahistory of working travel. Can you
tell us what drew you to travel.

I am a designer for
theater; I do mostly sets. Sometimes I designcostumes and do the
lighting as well. Beside that I work with musiciansand other artist on
the spatial design. This can be a gallery or anyother type of usual or
unusual space. Working with all these differentpeople brought me to
different theaters etc. in different places. Thusthe travel came out of
the profession, not the other way around.

What countries have you work/traveled in and how long were you nomadic?

I
come from Holland, but I left Holland early on and moved to Berlinin
1985, There I started to work as a set designer, and did my
firsttouring with the production I designed.
First tours were within Germany, then several productions in Austria and Holland. The periods I travel are usually rather short.
I
go in to see the theater, talk to the Technical people, and get anidea
of what they can do. By then I usually have pretty much an idea ofwhat
the direction of the designs are going to be like. After Ifinalize the
designs, I go back to the theater and present in fulldetail the
production design. Then an intensive communication processstarts where
there all the little alterations take place . Usually Ihave an
assistant of the house who communicates with me through emailand sends
me pictures. If there are major problems, I have to go backin. But so
far, most of that part of the process goes well. It helps ifyou have
experience and have a good sense of the facilities thetheaters have and
the quality they can bring. Then I travel back forthe first install on
the stage. This is a particularyl intense periodof time and changes and
improvisation have to be made quickly. Then Istay through the final
rehearsals and opening night. Get a glass ofchampagne and I wish
everyone well and go back home.

Coincidences in life brought me
from Berlin to New York, (yepbecause of a man). Then the challenge was
to adapt to a whole differentcultural world. The theater scene is far
different than what I knew. Ihad to join the Union of course, and
worked as a scenic artist on filmsand commercials, still doing a few
European gigs.

After 3 years in New York, the work of my partner brought us to the California Institute of the Arts.
This is a very open minded and wonderful school, where working in an experimental way is certainly appreciated.

Again
I had to adapt to a completely new situation because we foundthis grand
place in the Desert. This fantastic building! An oldtelephone repeater
station in the middle of nowhere, but certainly notoverly remote! The
Idea was to transform this place into somethingplayful, open, and
lively.
After the first year, in which I basically worked on setting
up thebasics of the Compound I was hired by CalArts as well. I taught
for 6years in the Integrated Media department.

The telephone
repeater station is known as "The Compound". It is madeup of the Big
Studio, 4 houses, and an old tower building. Thepossibilities where
immediately clear, as we are both very handy andlove to build things,
we started to bring it up to a level where hightech, art and rural
living became a beautiful and comfortable mix. Soonwe had two of the
houses occupied by other artists, the third buildingbecame atelier
spaces and the fourth house became the Guest House.

Cecile,
you have now opened a BCN Port in the Mojave Desert fornomadic workers.
This is the first "fairchise" operation for BCN withit's original port
in Berlin. Can you tell us how you found out aboutthis opportunity and
what drew you to join?

Through another network group : Shapeshifsters.net I found Manu Kumar - the businessclass.net ? in Berlin- offering workplace in a beautiful factory building in the nicest part of Berlin - I was curious.
Manu was featured on the Nu Nomad blogon
September 17th 2007. So last summer on a trip I decided to visithim. We
immediately became friends as we had a lot of in common(background in
art, and both worked in a field where collaboration isimportant).

I like to collaborate, usually it brings out the best in everyone.

In
all those years working as a designer, and also in my function inthe
Integrated Media department I found myself in the position oflinking
people, bringing in practical solutions, building stuff forspecific
projects etc.
That is a great way for me to function in life.

When
I spoke with Manu about the Compound, all the projects whichwere
realized here, all the guests who had stayed up here, all the
fundinners I hosted at the Wing table
( To be specific, the Wing table is a Boeing L1011 Left wing aileron) it was a simple step:

The Compound could certainly be made known to a wider audience.
Everything Manu wanted to offer was already there, and it fitted his vision and my own: sharing a great place to work,
to
the benefit of the people coming here, to the benefit of theCompound
itself: as with all these people and projects it becomes adynamic place
to be. And all the dinners are just a fun forum to sharethoughts and
exchange vision and break out new initiatives. I guess youcan guess now
that I love to cook ?

How was it to work with Manu Kumar and what does it take to set up a new BCN location ?

Manu
Kumar is a wonderful and enthusiastic person. Manu did all thework for
the website, handled legal issues etc. All I had to providewere
pictures of my place and a biography. Probably there are otherpeople
out there with similar possibilities and interests, offeringinteresting
workplaces.

If there are people who can offer such an
infrastructure and areinterested to become part of this initiative they
should check out thewebsite of Thebusinessclass.net and contact Manu Kumar.

What do you offer to your guests?

In
my case I offer more than a place to work: The Guest House is aSpanish
style Casita built in 1927. It has three rooms, plus a largeliving
room, double bathroom, and large kitchen with everything in it.There is
Internet access, telephone, European style featherbed covers,all linens
etc. You can find details, pictures and a floor plan onthebusinessclass.net under location: Mojave

Besides the Guesthouse, we can make additional arrangements for use of the Big Studio,
Here
the Wing table can function as a conference table, where you cando
project presentations, project stuff on the large walls. And if youwant
to get fancy, I can host a dinner for up to 45 people. I can'tboard
them all but I certainly can feed them, have them seated, servethe wine
in glasses (no paper or plastic stuff in my place).

If a visitor wants to make use of the shops and tools we have to discuss the details.
The workshops offer tools for metal and wood working, paintjobs etc.

Do you accommodate nomads traveling with partners or children?

Absolutely! The set up of the Guesthouse is flexible.
And I have a big trampoline in the backyard, kids love it!

I
notice from the map that your compound seems to be locatedvery rurally.
When a person stays with you, what can they expect interms of reaching
your place from the nearest city, securing food whilethey stay, etc.?

Well,
it feels more remote than it actually is. It is very close tothe
Highway 5. 5 minutes away is Gorman, a classical American highwaystop
with three gas stations, 3 fast food restaurants, and a
convenientstore. Two miles up, you can find a Mexican restaurant. 20
minutes awayis Frazier Park, which has a supermarket and an excellent
hardwarestore . And in 40 minutes down the hill you are in Valencia
whichoffers all the shopping malls, and with a 1 hour drive you are in
LosAngeles.
Google Earth coordinates:
34°45'51.75"N
118°43'34.05"W

How long do you expect the average nomad might stay with you?

This can be flexible, depending on the availability and the type of project.

What would you say would be the most compelling reasons for a nu nomad to visit the Mojave Desert?

The
combination of it all: being in a comfortable house, no rush tocatch
the last train, the beautiful surroundings, the social 'make-up'of the
Compound. The close vicinity of Mojave airport (a civilexperimental
airport- this is the place where the first space touristrocket has been
built, it won the X-prize- the second rocket is in themake- I can't
give you a tour of that. It is still under cover) Plusthe wide views ,
the howl of a coyote, the ravens, the owls. Enjoy ameal at the wing
table, jump the trampoline, stroll through the fields,find a
bleached-out bone?

If someone reading this is interested in staying at your place how can they make a reservation?

Through Manu Kumar: thebusinessclass.net
Or contact me directly through my website: cecilebouchier.com