It was like that film Blown Away. I had two choices yesterday red or yellow. I chose yellow, and today i found out it was the wrong choice. The result was that all of the work for an idea I have been working on for months has disappeared.
So what now? Back to the drawing board I suppose. Begin the process again. This time around I will have the benefit of experience. As Edison says ‘I know a thousand ways not to make a lightbulb’.
Immediately after the realisation of my self destruction I went to the library to clear my head. I bumped into Jonathan Shelper who was updating his blog http://offthewallfriend.blogspot.com/ with his experience of Venice Biennial. It was useful to listen to what was going on in someone elses head for a change. He says he believes the art of the 60’s is coming around again. He plans to get back the space he had in London and make good work.
He asked me why I must spend so much time on my work and without thinking I responded that I want to torture myself. Jonathan’s work is clever and immediate, temporary, playful and profound. Mine is painful, drawn out, time consuming, complex yet also temporary. One thing we agree on is that we need to make the best work we can regardless of whether anyone gets it or even sees it.
Tomorrow I’m going to London to see work by Louise Bourgeois, Tracy Emin and Daniel Lamelas. Then I’ll trip over to the East End and see what’s in the artist run spaces there – I can’t wait. London will be my Venice.
