Vispo: Think / The Art Of Keeping Your Mouth Shut

 

RTomens, 2023

'I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them,' - Picasso

That was a response to those still expecting life-like, representational images, no doubt. Whereas Picasso represented the 'real' as he saw it, us visual poets work the another realm, where 'reality' is not the issue since we work from...what? Pure imagination? Some. Others like to play with words and their meaning. I have used song titles, literary and philosophical quotes as starting points for my letteral abstractions. In the case of Think, it was just that word, which came to me after I did think, for a minute or two. 

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It pays to keep your mouth shut; literally, sometimes. In the shop, for instance, I've often bitten my tongue when a customer threatens to regale me with their political opinions, doing so with a brief comment regarding the government. I keep schtum and take their money. It's never happened, but a political row could easily end with them telling me where to stick those books before storming out. One needs a finely-tuned radar to detect those capable of a sensible, calm discussion and an evangelical ideologue who will start foaming at the mouth upon being challenged.

I told Bookworm this the other day when he suggested we open a bookshop (using my money, of course, because he's a dole lifer). I warned him that he'd find it difficult to keep his mouth shut when serving a pink-haired activist buying The Communist Manifesto. The ensuing row would be filmed by the activist, go viral on TikTok and result in the London branch of Antifa pouring petrol on our dreams, leaving no more than the blackened, wrinkled pages of our stock. Naturally, he didn't take kindly to my prediction, claiming to possess the ability to keep quiet when necessary, which is contradicted by his now defunct contacts book.

'Never discuss religion or politics with those who hold opinions opposite to yours' or 'Do not discuss politics or religion in general company' is an etiquette rule from the late-Victorian era, or possibly earlier. As you know, the Victorian middle-classes were keen on etiquette rules. Perhaps they had a point. That said, in those times we British were notoriously reticent about expressing ourselves. Some would call it an unhealthy manifestation of supressed emotions, although the two could, in theory, be separate issues, we know that emotion and strong political opinion tend to go hand-in-hand.

Since so much political debate now goes on between total strangers via the internet, blood readily boils in the digital, rather than real world environment where, thankfully, most of us respect the close proximity of a living, breathing human. One real threat to that is alcohol consumption. As you know, a well-lubricated mind can easily go off the rails of etiquette and become a runaway ranting train that will inevitably result in carnage; reason and politeness left as mangled ideals beside the track. 

Now it's time for me to shut up and make some art.

TTFN!