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| Fool, RTomens, 2025 |
Yes, the vispo recycling continues apace. No definite stylistic approach yet and one may never emerge. Knowing me (as I do, in this regard, although perhaps not ultimately in every sense because...well...don't you ever look in the mirror and say 'Who are you?' No? It can't only be me that does...) I'll use various techniques.
Sometimes I do crave the technique, the one that's so damned good I have to use it all the time. But that just isn't me. I can't keep on one track. I have noticed that many more popular artists have one-track minds to their art. I mean popular in the small pond (the one related to using text and the broad visual poetics church), not that big one outside populated by Big Fine Artists making lots of money. They get invited to speak at events (OK, I did once this year), they even have studios! They have loads more followers online than I do and they know how to write or talk about their 'practice'. Yes, they call it their 'practice'. I never use the word. Perhaps I should. Perhaps it's key to their success. See? They take themselves seriously as...artists! They even have artist haircuts which, for women, must include a radical fringe of some kind, very floppy, perhaps, or the classic Hannah Hoch fringe. That's one sure sign of serious artist.
I'm not sure about the men, although the boys...well, a walk around Central Saint Martins would surely reveal a stereotype or two. I might even struggle differentiating between the sexes - ha-ha - no, not because of long hair (aah, the 60s, when it was only long hair that caused old fogies to scratch their heads and wonder) but because...he/they whatever - it's all about neutrality, you know!!!
Where was I? Yes, that's it, cutting up old visual poems to recycle. In Fool (above) I went all 'mixed media', yes, I did. I actually did some painting! I can't paint properly, but even as I write that I'm fully aware that I was w-a-a-ay ahead of my time by not painting 'properly', ever, starting in the 70s. It took teachers and students a long time to catch up with me but for the last few decades not being able to paint properly has definitely not been a problem.
There's no artful anti-skill skill at work. God, no, nothing so old school as learning the rules, then breaking them - fuck the rules to start with - ha-ha! Do you think art schools today teach painting, like...um...composition, colour...er...I don't know what you're supposed to know when it comes to painting. Do they hell - it's a free-for-all! It's post-modern, innit? Yes, dear reader, I was post-modern before it was 'in'. I could prove it by showing you some bad paintings I did, but you've done me no harm so I won't.
Having cut up some work I got the idea to create shapes which ended up looking like magnifying glasses. That wasn't intentional, as you can tell by the fact that all that can be seen are splodges of red paint with a bit of text; nothing important. The black acrylic was applied dry, pure, straight from the tube. I find this the best way to achieve that Bad Painting look, don't you? No mixing with water for fine lines and neat edges. My crude efforts ended up looking a bit...Abstract Expressionist? Maybe?
The other day I compared my recycling to that of reggae producers because, as you know, they loved to recycle a rhythm. I've been listening to a lot of dub recently. It's been a constant in my musical life since the 70s and that Punky Reggae party we all had. It's not really an apt comparison because I don't recycle the same visuals often...I just liked the idea. As I also said, I can't claim to be the visual equivalent of King Tubby or even Adrian Sherwood (meow!). I made a playlist of some faves.
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