Jack Saunders ~ Edinburgh Art Festival, Platform 2016

They say ignorance is bliss, but I think it’s a lazy option. You can find out whatever you want, you just need to dedicate your time to it (but then they say that time is money).

I feel like motivational quotes are completely underrated, because you can always benefit from someone else’s effort.

WHY DO YOU FIND IT SO DIFFICULT TO COMMIT TO THINGS? YOUR ABILITY TO PERCEIVE IS FANTASTIC, SO TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF IT. FORGET THAT ACTUALLY, BECAUSE YOU WILL BE FOOLED AND IN-TURN DISAPPOINTED. THE FAÇADE IS ONE THING, BUT THE INTERIOR IS A WHOLE DIFFERENT KETTLE OF DELICIOUS SMOKED SALMON. LET IT TOUCH YOUR TONGUE AS YOU SQUINT YOUR EYES AT THAT HIGHLY REFLECTIVE SURFACE OVER THERE. GOLD IS NOT AS USEFUL AS IT LIKES TO THINK, BUT THE PROMISE THAT THERE COULD BE SOMETHING BENEATH THE SURFACE WAS JUST TOO MUCH TO TURN DOWN WASN’T IT?

they will keep trying to pin the tail on you if you keep chasing the carrot. are you in motion or are you just experiencing that false sense of movement that you get when you step off of a treadmill? this slow, pallid excuse for rolling needs to stop. why not just type “tumbleweed gif” into a search engine and use the results as a kind of mirror. this digitised nature is something of a mutation, a bird of parasite, if you will. i know it can be unsettling, especially when you can not afford to pay attention, but split open that porky bank and let the golden entrails slip out.

if you say you are up from sloth then people will listen to you – it is the reality of your own nature that determines your speed and you already know that the sides of the mountain sustain life, not the top. then again, when you find yourself looking with twenty-twenty hindsight and being subsequently blinded by familiarity, avoid being too moral. how much life have you cheated yourself out of? are you going to waste all of your slow-roasted, vine-ripened tomatoes trying to figure it out? bite the mullet and extrapolate forward from where you are just now, but do not break the chain if you get lost.

you have cleared hurdles whilst holding your breath and these new full length windows allow for a great view. i will not forcefully amalgamate these ideas, but i think it is safe to say you have essentially become a conduit for the mind at large. your heart is warmed knowing that your parents are proud of you because you are unequivocally good at throwing, and why would they not be? the door may not always be held open for you, but your chair will stay clear of thumbtacks. you might miss their metallic reflection at first but have no grief at all, that will exist only for a short while.

the powers that be don’t hear and see
you sow seeds in the ground, clean dirt from your teeth
dust under your tongue and clogging your throat
bite the bullet and splash out on some fancy mouthwash
an irresistible odour, casually allure
one-hundred percent battery and no need for an umbrella
their name or their colour emblazoned on your chest
go far, all the way, tense up and breathe fast
darkened vision in heat and flat-down feet
keep the peripheries blurred, not that they’re in focus
nostrils open, hoping to soak in no thing
flagging a little, but still on par for the title
the ocean opens ahead and you can watch the sun set
park-up, spark your roll-up, check your fresh cut hasn’t grown out yet
notice that shit on your shoe, it doesn’t look like that much
it doesn’t smell either and those laces took ages to tie
so yeah, i wouldn’t worry about it etc.

And a whole.

Scrap it.

And a hole (non-descript). It’s strange though because seeing something sometimes is not enough. Whereas sometimes seeing something is enough.

Na, scrap that.

Like being boxed-in by nothing, kind of. As in, what is it to be bound by infinity? Surely the same as not being bound at all (manacles and chains could build a better life for all). A painfully thin façade that you could see through (seethe / rough) if you wanted to. But you know what they say – ignorance is …

Fuck it, scrap that.

You are going …

Scrap that.

It goes, it goes, it goes. But what if you never knew where you were? It’s all very well favouring the journey over the destination, but then again …

Scrap that.

Sometimes it goes, it goes. And sometimes it’s fucking terrifying.