Thank you for sending the paint and canvas. I will be able to press on for a while yet with that but I beg you to send a little extra so that I might prepare my own canvas. A mitre box for angled cuts, 30m x 70mm wood slats (I can make one size 30 per length so at least 6 slats), staple gun and one 10 meter roll of pre-primed canvas from Jacksons at £60. £100 total would allow me to really work and I’m sure to make progress. 

​

Let me tell you, I can say with certainty that there is nowhere else I’d rather live than on the Olympic, especially with spring coming. The only thing that disturbs the peace is the retched Navy. Did you know that they have a firing range no more that 100 meters away from the boat yard? When they start up with no warning it can really make you jump and when they really let loose a cacophony of gunfire and shouting that you can’t imagine is produced – shock, awe then silence. This goes on intermittently throughout the day but I suppose it adds to the quirkiness of the place. There are some fine fellows living here too. All busy working on their boats, fitting this or that, fiddling with their ribs, tinkering with the engine, all sorts of things that are quite baffling to me. 

​

I suddenly feel how absurd my "research" is when I’m in a place like this. You know it only makes any sense inside the university environment and having been through the depressing process of that doomed post doc application1 I had just about resolved to send it all to hell, but, it seems, fate thought otherways. You see, today one of the other residents in the yard, an ocean scarred old deckhand whose name escapes me, told me about an interesting idea exchange in Loughborough all about Castoriadis and the radical imaginary in art practice2 (just when I thought I was out they pull me back in!3) It is all about the research I was involved in with the Open Council so it is just possible I could apply to present something, would that be an infringement?4 I would of course be harping about the Open Council but I'll talk about the Torpoint Art Service and our rationale of breakage as well. And old Holmes will be there to boot so maybe a portrait?

​

Ill put together a yes please text and send it off and see if they bite. Anyhow, today I spoke to Les who lives a couple of boats over from us, he rents a shipping container from Mr H5  which he uses as a workshop and it occurred to me that we should look into renting one ourselves. It makes sense as soon I’ll need somewhere to store paintings and prepare new canvases, it’ll provide somewhere to work on still lives and portraits and eventually we might even have an exhibition for ourselves. Les pays £25 per week so I’ll try and talk to Huggins this week and see what’s available.

Well, as for the work, today I went to The Lawns and took on a view of chestnut trees and a row of houses on Sydney Road. It was done with some gusto but ultimately I'll need to do better. I felt that I had chosen the wrong composition but it was too late and I kept going anyway. I'm learning that photographic composition, what you might imagine makes a good photo, is really a different thing altogether from composing a view for painting. It was a relatively event free affair but in addition to the usual rain, wind, sun, clouds and dogs I did manage to have a good exchange with a chap who told me something extraordinary. On the very spot we were standing once stood the Whitsand Bay Hotel which was transported brick by brick to Portwrinkle where it still stands today. I thought initially he was pulling my legs but he went on to show me some fragments of the stonework and so on that remain on the Thanckes Lake beach. Such an amazingly long winded task it must have been, it reminded me of those early Mcgowan performances.6

The weather is reported to be terrible over the next few days so we'll see what can be done. We really should rent a space. Oh well, maybe I can set up a still life in the fish hold.

 

 

                                                       In good spirits,

 

                                                                                      John

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

1 John applied for a post doctoral position at Goldsmiths University but was ultimately prevented from submitting his application by a rule change at the funding board which rendered John ineligible. John's proposal for The War On Capitalism project can be viewed here.

 

2 The conference in question is actually Castoriadis Revisited: Questioning the radical imaginary in contemporary art and curatorial practice. 

 

3 An apparently accidental reference to the Godfather 3 motion picture.

 

4 There is no infringement in attendance but a portrait of Brian Holmes would be inadmissable. 

 

5 This refers to Sean Huggins, a local business man with a number of marine and property development interests in Torpoint. Sean owns of Carbeile Wharf where the Olympic is moored.

 

6 A popular performance artist, Mark Mcgowan is best known for his artist taxi driver character but John is referring here to his earlier absurd durational performance pieces including for example rolling a peanut for seven miles across the streets of London, using only his nose to protest against student tuition fees.