“I’m a sinner,” he shouted tossing the Black Beauty into the
back of his throat while letting the Quaalude dissolve under his tongue in a
bubbling swirl of lager. She was feeding him lust in chemical form and he ate
hungrily, a wolf at Red Riding Hood’s door. With enough speed in his system to
keep him going all night the ‘lude would settle him nicely into that dreamy
tantric state where music becomes soft as clouds.
“We’re all sinners, honey,” she idly offered swigging a
caramel coloured soft drink.
“Qui dormit non peccat,” he slurred.
She looked up at him through pupils the size of roses under
eyelids drooping as dew-laden petals and said, “You’re mocking me?”
“No, no, it’s Latin for ‘the sleeper does no sin,’” he
replied, sensing his misplaced authority. “Basically one of those sentimental medieval phrases designed to hold people in place through inactivity”
“Uh huh, well baby, this here is Latin too,” she drawled,
turning back to the foil containing thousands of tiny granules of the finest
bean Colombia exported.
Alright, alright, that’s just a ploy, a ruse, a pointless
piece of misdirection and inane dialogue as a segue to discuss freedom of
speech .. Yeah baby! Freedom of speech .. and, well, growing up in confined
spaces ..
This past summer I read the best- selling novel ‘Stories We
Could Tell’ (2006) by Tony
Parsons (he of NME fame and author of ‘Man and Boy’) for the second time, and
was not surprised by the drug taking behaviour of its 70s protagonists. I’ve
read many an SF novel and seen enough films to be frequently confronted with
the characters altering their reality with mind expanding chemicals, from
Valley of the Dolls to the Matrix (an entire reality built on the blue pill or
the red pill). Whether the reckless endangerment of Trainspotting, the soul
searching of Man With the Golden Arm or the groovy self-discovery of Easy
Rider, a culture of exploration and experimentation has been prevalent in
entertainment for several generations.
The psychedelic music of the sixties, the speed and ‘ludes
of the self-indulgent seventies, the cocaine fuelled rise of the yuppie in the
80s are only indicators of the common experience of the times. Unfortunately,
in our current age we seem to be going through a period of alcohol depressed
apathy that disguises itself as morality and the ordinariness of convention.
Not long ago I watched Jonathon Ross interviewing the actor
Jeff Bridges about his drug preferences. Bridges was on the show to talk about
his film ‘Men Who Stare at Goats’ which is concerned with the military’s use of
LSD as a tool for creating specialist soldiers who can kill using mind control.
Bridges discussed his own regular use of LSD for recreation and an aid to
improved meditation, and asked Ross what he thought about it. Ross claimed in
‘hey I still work for the BBC’ mode, much to the chagrin of Bridges, that he’d
never tried it.
Which brings me to the reason for this little rant; censorship of art in the media. Particularly that which a few simpletons might find offensive. A little while ago I posted a comment on a friend's art Blog, mentioning the beauty and
serenity of a photographed scene in four sections as being trance inducing,
soft and fuzzy - using a reference to Quaaludes. Although she appreciated
the comment, she was unsure about having a ‘controlled drug’ mentioned on
her Blog, and asked me to resubmit deleting the analogy. Just so you get
it, here’s the comment in its entirety:
These are stunning photographs (name omitted) .. I like the
way you’ve placed the sky at the top and the sea at the bottom creating a
vertical panorama .. the sunset is as brilliant and powerful as you mentioned.
When I first looked at the central photo collage I thought of a phrase around
the idea of a quadrant and the connection between the other pics, however on
ensuring myself of its meaning I came across the word ‘Quaalude’ which is a
pharmaceutical, a hypnotic sedative, the trade name is derived from the words
‘quiet interlude’ .. so in an odd way I thought that was more appropriate for
these photos of your tranquil and yet illuminating walk along the beach .. nice
work. KW
Obviously I was asserting that the beach walk was like a
‘quiet interlude’ and that I had come across the definition while looking up
the word ‘quadrant’ in relation to the layout of the photos. Now, of course
it’s her choice to publish or not, each person is free to censor their own Blog
as suits them – but personally, I think most people in this day and age are
mature enough to understand this pharmaceutical reference in context,
especially with the provided explanation.
Every day a significant proportion of the population is
prescribed tranquillisers, sedatives, anti-depressants, inhibitors, uppers and
downers and all around the towners. I think almost everyone is aware of the
difference between over the counter remedies, prescription medication, illegal
narcotics and shady street deals.
Not so many years back the British Council, and your
mother’s doctor, recommended a glass of Quinine a day to keep malaria at bay,
as well as other tropical illnesses, upset tummies and low sex drive. Now,
Quinine is available in most countries, including the UK, as a drink mixer, yet
it’s still a controlled substance in the United States. And who can forget that
Coca Cola originally contained the ‘pep me up’ additive, cocaine?
Damien Hirst famously printed pictures of tablets, capsules
and medications of various colours and shapes onto Plexiglas light boxes to
illuminate the fascination we have with curatives in this age of addiction, and
completed a series of pharmaceutical-style advertising posters for such
foodstuffs as baked beans and sausages. So, let’s not avoid the reality we live
with daily and that we can and should approach wide eyed.
Maybe I’m wrong, but surely artists need to be open to
experience, open to life, open to the truth – however you want to define it. If
we hide from the realities of life, the hidden aspects as well as the brighter
moments- we give strength to those who would draw us into an age of darkness
where speech is monitored and suppressed to maintain control over our thoughts,
and visual art becomes a propagandist tool to sway public opinion.
Language is
the way we define ourselves, whether that is spoken or visual there are
inherent meanings and interpretations in linguistic structure and expression
that allow freedom to grow and spread, responsibly and without restriction, for real people are capable of filtering their own experience.
However, just this week it happened again on the Ross show
(now moved to ITV due to his anger at being censored and suspended by the BBC
for making an on-air lewd phone call to an elderly actor) as the witty and
intelligent Tim Minchin was edited out of his Friday 23rd December
show for singing a song that might be offensive to the feeble-minded community
of fundamentalists (or just mental, I’m not sure). I’ve posted the song in this
Blog as it was to appear so you can judge for yourself if it is offensive or
was justifiably cut from a “pre-Christmas” show.
Clearly the editors of Mr Ross’s show feel we are not capable of determining our own position on the satirical elements of comedy. I am a grown up – it is my duty to engage with and challenge the wrongs in this world and also to reveal and illustrate the incongruities and hypocrisies of the social construct.
As an artist I want to entertain, amuse or enlighten
in an imaginative manner. So while Jonathan wants to hide his personal party
habits behind a screen of denial or bemused superiority, those who seek to
construct a world of truth open their lives to scrutiny so as to inform others
that they are not alone. It is a function of art to transmit a message of
contemporary humanity through creative means. And, I’ve read and studied the
Gospels, and in my opinion Jesus quite liked a party and therefore one would
think, He enjoyed a bit of a giggle – so, I think He would’ve found this song
amusing, and the debate over it’s offensiveness a storm in a teacup – which He
would’ve easily quelled.
Where are
today's artists on the issues that affect all of us? Do they have anything to
say on the issues of world importance or are they too busy congratulating each
other on yet another pointless postcard exhibition where the only people attending
are those showing work?
Over the past few years funding for the arts and the buildings and services offered by various local councils has been dramatically reduced. In Derby, the city I resided in for the past six years in the UK, the funding has been slashed so severely that the arts council will soon be a ‘team’ of one and the new centres for the arts, the Quad and DeDa (both spaces I have performed and exhibited in and attended many events at) will have their funding entirely cut within the year – this after spending 20 million pounds ($30m) on building and funding these centres a few years ago.
Over the past few years funding for the arts and the buildings and services offered by various local councils has been dramatically reduced. In Derby, the city I resided in for the past six years in the UK, the funding has been slashed so severely that the arts council will soon be a ‘team’ of one and the new centres for the arts, the Quad and DeDa (both spaces I have performed and exhibited in and attended many events at) will have their funding entirely cut within the year – this after spending 20 million pounds ($30m) on building and funding these centres a few years ago.
Self-concerned
individuals worried about the crumbling of the Arts Council in the UK or pleased
with Mr President's declaration of funding for artists who create works that
support the "cultural self-image of the United States" are typical in this community of late (While overall funding
for the National Endowment for the Arts is being reduced, contrary claims
are published on his website).
Is government funded art propagandist - or so pathetically weak in its vision
that the result is not challenging to intellectual thought, or so highbrow that
the general audience is left cold by it's self-indulgence? Perhaps a serious
discussion on the artist’s role in this maelstrom of ideas and ideologies is
necessary: the technocracy of a saturated media? A wikimedia?
I certainly hope those rights that my father, my sons and I
and all the people of every nation and generation previous and since rallied
for, protested for and spoke out for are never stifled, silenced or softened. When we begin to respond through fear – fear of what others will think,
fear of our own flaws, fear of the power of confrontation, the fear of what
lays within, then we slide into a shallow and quivering state of ignorance.
A world of art
that does not engage with the issues of our time and contributes nothing to
future social understanding of what it means to be human in our age – that, my
friend, is what we really should fear!
“Think more openly. That’s the point.”
– Gilbert and George
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.. and no, I didn't resubmit the comment!
* * *
.. and no, I didn't resubmit the comment!
