Less is more

" Great artists such as Bacon and Beckett distil; lesser artists become self-referential and self-conscious as their work goes on. A personally defined landscape can easily become an enclosed and introverted prison, referring only to itself."

This is a quote from an article by Mark Ravenhill in Arts Comment in the Guardian G2 on Monday Sept 29th 2008. It is a well worth read.
It got me thinking about what I like about the work of Louise Bourgeois and what I find missing in the work of Tracey Emin for instance. Although I think it matters to know what an artist is hoping to accomplish before deciding whether it works or not!

Autumnal Equinox 2008

To celebrate this year I swam in Walden Pond.
A long swim out into the centre and there I remained enjoying the sky, the warm silky smooth water, the tree-lined shore and a few other swimmers who, like myself, were in heaven on earth.
I love swimming and I cannot swim enough when I am near bodies of water be they ponds, rivers, seas or lakes.
I grew up near water and swimming from an early age in the Stockholm archipelago.
I am happiest when I live near water. Cape Cod for instance, Hydra or Ibiza...I have been lucky to have such easy proximity to the sea.
Now I live inland and have a river nearby. Or rather a burn. We swim in a waterfall whenever the weather complies. Which is not very often.
It was the loveliest way to celebrate the Equinox.
Walden Pond is one of my special places. It is where Thoreau went to live in the woods for two years and he wrote the book Walden about the experience.

Walden Pond is situated in Massachusetts, near Concord, where Emerson, Hawthorne, and the Allcotts lived and worked. If you want to know more about the Transcendalists, read Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. They were the first hippies!

News on In Person 30 Poets

Update on the recent fate of In Person 30 Poets the DVD-book filmed by myself and edited by Neil Astley of Bloodaxe Books.
We had a successful presentation at the Ledbury Poetry Festival, Shropshire in July.
This is an annual festival and very much integrated into Ledbury life. Many local sponsors and volunteers and a great sense of attendance not only from poetry buffs and far-travelled folk but also a great many locals. That is always a good sign. There is an eagerly anticipated interest in the program put together by Chloe Garner.
We were fortunate enough to spend the whole week there enjoying events immensely and filming poets and having rewarding meetings. Our hosts, the Beers, were fascinating and extraordinary people dedicated to education and their community. It was stimulating meeting them and talking to them over two suppers.
The Carters who are very engaged in the Festival in different important capacities are the loveliest people I have met in a long long time. We had a memorable lunch in their garden in the sun and warmth, the one rare day this summer of eating al fresco!
We met Samuel Menashe a poet living in NYC whom we shall meet again in September. He is a wonderful man.
Since that festival we have also done a presentation in Dumfries in Scotland and were on a double bill with Moniza Alvi. She has two books out, one selected poems and a new collection called Europa. Her reading was so good. We later filmed her in Grasmere at Dove Cottage.
If In Person 30 Poets is successful as a new kind of poetry experience we shall definitely follow it up with more.
If you are curious you can go on the Bloodaxe Books website and see taster videos of the poets included. www.bloodaxebooks.com
Other events in the future can also be seen on the website but I can tell you already there will be one in Sheffield during Off the Shelf in October and another presentation at Dove Cottage in Grasmere,Cumbria also in October. I cannot remember any other events at this moment.

Rain regen regn reign rein

A wet summer and chilly nights, all over the British Isles flooding and rains. The garden is soggy. The grass is green and the country side lush.
I am very eager to have some summery days in New England soon. Swimming in ponds and in the sea, walks and reading and enjoying the breeze and the sun. Eating seafood too.
I will not be attending to DJANG while I am away so I wish you a special Full Moon and later next month an unforgettable Autumnal Equinox.

Record shop

Have you heard this record?
It comes with great recommendations from several sources.
I have yet to hear it!
Cannot wait.

Caen Musee des Beaux Arts

Annette Messager





In the castle built by William the Conqueror, which sits high above the town, there is a modern building which houses the Art Museum of Caen. It is built within the ancient walls and the juxtaposition is dramatic.
We saw an interesting exhibition of contemporaray artists responding to the work of Alberto Giacometti the day we visited Caen. For example artists like Anthony Gormley, Annette Messager, Louise Bourgeois and Fischli Weiss were part of the show.
I particularly responded to Messagers' installation in a separate space; Deplaisir/ Plaisir.
They also have a reasonable collection but not quite as extraornirary as the one at Rouen.

Caen

We also visited Caen which has an overwhelming WW2 history and ever presence through war memorials and huge cemeteries. In the postcard racks around town you find pictures of a ruinous Caen during the war.