Watching the BBC Four series on Mathematics last night got me thinking. There was a piece about Henri Poincaré, who shaped his working day to consist of two hours in the morning and two hours in the early evening. The time inbetween was for walking and letting his subconscious roam freely. He is quoted as saying “it is by logic that we prove, but by intuition that we discover”.
http://www.storyofmathematics.com/19th_poincare.ht…
The result generally, he thought, was sparks of inspiration and better efficiency. Like the two hour lunches in Italy or siestas in lots of Europe (I know it’s not hot enough here) this makes total sense to me. In my life, it’s more like the hours part of his idea is substituted for weeks, but there is the same effect.
Have been trying to follow the Lib Dem conference a bit since yesterday – it worries me that Nick Clegg seems to be becoming a bit of a scapegoat, when actually it is Conservative policies to blame. Watching ‘This is England 86’ also makes me think just how shit the 80s were for loads of people, and I certainly remember a lot of tension and worries over money at home while my Dad struggled with his own business.
People losing jobs as part of the cuts doesn’t make much sense to me when they will then have to go a claim benefits/housing and be more of a drain. I guess cuts to benefits will come just in time to lessen that damage. The cuts feel very focussed on the middle and working class and are missing out a massive point of revenue from the very rich – something that the tories are unlikely to touch I know. Whether the deficit is cleared by 2015 or not, it doesn’t feel like the government are thinking about what’s best for the long term.
Urgh, anyway, sorry about that political aside!
I have finally got a skeleton website up for Cardboard Folly. I’m finding it very hard to put together a journal like this as I keep seeing great work that should be in it. However, time is limited, my resources are certainly finite so I shall have to stop asking people and leave it until issue #2 next year. I think it will be interesting to spread the contributions out next year so I am only working with one or two artists at a time and it develops in a more relaxed and fluid way. The theme for issue #2 is Holes so I already have some people in mind. There I go again, getting carried away with future things before present things!
It is without logo or too much information at the moment, but that is partly what I will be working on next week in the Cooperative space:
Also, egg number one is hatched! (see pic). This is the simplest by far so the others are way more likely to get broken or not cast well, but when my rubber moulds actually dry (tip – use accelerator) we shall see..
