Canvas arrived. Tear test passed. Enough now for the remainder of the season. A still life as promised.

The work is simply showing our current reading round presented with some wonderful tulips in a generous vase all done with Van Gogh's Oleanders in mind. Of course we pale in any comparison but well worth a try none the less - as is our logic. There is no great mystery to it however, for all talk of energy and urgency it is in the end about handling paint and vigorous but controlled execution and we just require an enormous amount of regular work to reach towards the goal of that kind of direct, pure painting of a still life like this. In fact it is harder to execute a still life work with the necessary directness as the general comfort and controlled studio environment means that the one tends to dither and revel, sipping the tea a little too much, and ending up making too many changes born out of too much contemplation. It would be quite different if we were working to the Cezannian sensations but he still lays in a heap at the bottom of the school stairs1 where our dutchman kicked him last autumn. He may not regain them this season.

The only one of the books we have finished reading is New Dark Age by James Bridle which takes center view. The others we dip in and out of. Our video message to Borg about these books could perhaps be inserted here but if not I can tell you that the other books are Capital is Dead Is This Something Worse by Mackenzie Wark which is to the right of New Dark Age and that is held up by John Ringo's sci fi fantasy romp, There Will Be Dragons, about an advanced technological society (a post singularity society we might say) which falls into war when the power turns off and all are sent back to the middle ages. To the left of the Bridle we have What Comes After Farce by Hal Forster which we have found interesting in an arty theoryish book way but it is not all up to date although Foster is to be reckoned with by a chalkhalf. The base of the left side pile is Reactionary Democracy: How Racism and the Populist Far Right Became Mainstream, with Art in the Age of Planetary Civil War by the fabulous Steyerl on top, both of which we have not read enough of to comment to any degree other than to say that they are for us and they must be finished. We have included two additional books in the painting that were not part of the round as we presented it to Borg. Snow Crash, the novel which so impressed the silicone lads and which coined the term metaverse, and behind the others, sided up, half hiding behind the flowers we have...The Bible. Now this is a provocation but the specter of religion has haunted us over the years owing to our support for the Poor Peoples Campaign in the states which we got to via George Floyd and the unforgettable preaching of the Reverend William Barber. Our dilemma is that the campaign, the speakers, the politics of the PPC is a breath of fresh air that when breathed one feels a little clearer in the head and the sound of the trumpet once more, it's just that the religion has never cut any ice with us. That said we must understand that it is a American context and in that sense it is all the more political because it comes from the church, all the more able to dissolve the trumpism and bring people together against power. It's different in the UK of course. You see that don't you?2

We have not read 'The Bible' and are aware only of the basic suite of Sunday school miracles peddled at any UK primary. Beyond that we are ignorant of the entire sphere of theology (that is one of the Dutchman's paths we haven't followed) but look here, we found a book the other day which we were close to including in the work which is about Christianity and populism and I can tell you that those people of the cloth wrestle with very many of the issues of the post truth era and the rise of the far alt right that we have. This book, Theological Responses to Populism, we picked up from the shelf of an Uppsalla paytoeat and we are not ashamed to say that we liberated it from its fate of cafe decor. Surely the lood gord3 would not hold it against us? So the bible is included on account of the PPC, and because of the idea that there is a sphere of similar panic going on in religious context but thirdly because in the game of realities, when orientation is out the window, the metaverse is on the horizon, hyperstition is real and the world heading for climate breakdown, one might as well choose religion as mast to tie to. The mast we have tied too is yet to properly reveal itself.

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In thought,

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John

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PS Speaking of being tied to the mast did you see that brave young Evertonian tie himself to the goal post at Goodison the other day? He protest climate change.4​

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1. As a boy Cezanne fell down some stairs as a result of being kicked in the back . It is thought that this incident contributed to a Cezanne's lifelong fear of being touched.

 

2. Yes very much so. 

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3. Spoonerisms have appeared increasingly in the texts.

 

4. Refers to Louis McKechnie, a member of the Insulate Britain, who caused an 8 minute delay to the Everton vs Newcastle fixture when he emerged from the stand wearing a T-shirt  with the message 'Just Stop Oil' and tied himself to the goal post. Everton won the match 1-0 thanks to an Iwobi goal in the 98th minute. See Mckechnie's TIK TOK statement video before the game. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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