Brian Eno recently had an exhibition of ‘One Million Paintings.' He wisely leaves them as light images on a screen or printouts. Painting is difficult and can't be done with the click of a wrist. What painting does is bring into being the subject matter, which is the reality of the materials and the process. "How did you do that?" Is the first thing one painter wants to know about another's art. Weight, density, texture, variations, viscosity, application, all generate the whole. So it isn't child's play really then. Another light bulb has blown. I should say the other light bulb has now blown. Which doesn't help the murkiness of lack of sunlight.
Fortunately for me the Landscape Architect and his friend the jazz singer are coming to the studio this evening and we will go out to dinner. That is what I need, exactly: intelligent witty company. At the Thai restaurant near here, my crispy duck with rice noodles was so delicious that I was afraid there might be wheat in it, but nope, not a single side effect, the noodles were rice not wheat, as they said. But it was the conversation that was so enjoyable. When I asked whether Jeff Koons ‘Puppy Dog,' that sculpture covered with greenery and pot plants, would have been done with a landscape architect or a horticulturist, the name Jeff Koons didn't ring a bell, but then the penny dropped, to use two idiomatic clichés one after the other, oh yes, he was the artist who proposed that for the Frankfurt City Square his sculpture of two giant dildos suspended from cranes should be used. What I still would like to know is how Koons in that early soccer ball piece, got the ball to be suspended in the glass show-case with no visible support. That is a great iconic work. But how was it done?
From there we sort of naturally slid into relationships and how little things can cause such irritation. Like one partner liking the heat down as low as possible at zero, and the other only happy when the heat is turned up to five, which is the highest. So is it war or one person being contented, the other miserable, or what about a compromise where neither has it where they would be naturally content? Tough call and I'm sure we've all had fights like this.
It is captivating to hear of all the intricacies of break-ups, and triangular relationships that happen in families. The drama of every life is incredible when one hears about it. Affairs, lies, secrets, uncontrollable passions, it is not only the British Royal Family who has them. We also talked about the differences between Germany and the UK, especially in manners. This was centred on a book by an Ethiopian writer who has written A History Of Manners, comparing the European manners structure in the respective societies. Did you know for example that the custom of greeting people by kissing originated from the Hapsburg Court which was such a small closed circle that one had to be born into; they were all related and so naturally kissed their family members
All that cerebral stimulation and affability zoomed up my energy level so that I worked in the studio until after four am when I got back.
