Tuesday 15 November 2016

Our uneven handed BBC!

I complained to the BBC about their interview on the Andrew Marr programme. This is the reply I received. I am not in the least surprised.

Dear Mr Garrard 


Many thanks for getting in touch about The Andrew Marr Show broadcast on Sunday 13 November 2016.

The programme had several prominent items to reflect Remembrance Sunday, as well as an interview with the leader of France’s Front National party, Marine Le Pen MEP.

Andrew acknowledged beforehand that some viewers may have found the timing or content distasteful, but he also fully explained the context and rationale for the interview with Ms Le Pen as follows:

"Now, today we are remembering the fallen, particularly of two World Wars, and we are doing so in a context of a world which feels particularly unstable, even dangerous. Our greatest ally - the United States - has been going through great political change, but what of our other great wartime ally, France? 

Since Donald Trump's victory, anything seems possible, and in France they're asking whether Marine Le Pen - the highly controversial leader of the right wing, nationalistic French National Front - will become their next President. She's polling strongly - at least 6 million voters so far - and most predict that she will reach the final round this spring. Now, if she won that would be a huge and significant moment for Europe - Marine Le Pen is hostile to Brussels, she's against NATO, she's against free trade, and she's a vehement supporter of Russia's Vladimir Putin.

Now, I know this morning some people are offended and upset that I have been to interview Marine Le Pen, and that we are showing this interview on Remembrance Sunday. I understand that, but I would say this: Le Pen could - under some circumstances - become the next French President in the spring. This week in the immediate aftermath of the Trump victory, she's declared that the whole world has changed and that her brand of politics is on the march. What does that mean?

In the end, we are a news programme and I don't think the best way to honour the fallen is to fail to report on the next big challenge to western security..."

Many thanks once again for taking the time to get in touch. We acknowledge your personal views on the interview and its timing, but we hope our reply helps to clarify our approach and why we felt it important to hear from Marine Le Pen MEP here. 

Kind Regards

BBC Complaints Team

www.bbc.co.uk/complaints


I think what really grieves me is that they give a disproportional amount of airtime to minority extreme right wing groups, and, never to extreme left wing groups. The BBC is biased heavily towards the right and as a consequence a morally bankrupt organisation.

Sunday 13 November 2016

If you tolerate this then your children will be next

I like many people have become very alarmed by the way the fascist agenda has appeared to have come to the fore in recent months, and particularly in the last week or so. Hate, which is essentially fascism, is being displayed more and more openly. A worrying trend that has to stop. How do the decent majority stop it? We stand up to be counted, we challenge it whenever we can and we make it known by whatever means available that HATE is not acceptable.

The key is to realise that you, each and every one of you can make a difference. You can help affect change. If we all do small things to counter fascism we will overcome the hate. We can drive it out. We can reaffirm that hate has no place in a decent society.

What can we do?
• Today I have sent postcards to the editors of five of the main culprit newspapers that have been encouraging hate. I've also complained to the BBC about their Marine Le Pen interview on the Andrew Marr Show. Next I shall start contacting those companies that fund adverts to the 'hate monger' newspapers:

• You can do the same
• And you can ask others to help to
• If you're on social media then follow the Stop Funding Hate campaign on Twitter or Facebook
• Follow Unite Against Fascism on Twitter and Facebook
• Print out some of the anti-fascist images on sticky paper. Stick them up in public places
• Print them out on plain paper. Shove them through people doors.
• Spread the word on social media
• Anything to get the message across



Now is a good time to remind you of Martin Niemoeller 'poem':

First they came for the Communists,
but I was not a Communist,
so I did not speak out.

Then they came for the Socialists and the trade unionists,
but I was neither,
so I did not speak out.

Then they came for the Jews,
but I was not a Jew,
so I did not speak out.
And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.

– Martin Niemoeller (1892-1984)



The title of this blog posting comes from a poster from the Spanish Civil War:


Think!



It inspired this Manic Street Preacher's song:



Think some more



These are seriously troubled times. It's time for all decent tolerant people to get up off their arses and do something, no matter how small.


Please feel free to share this picture





The postcards to national dailies

Saturday 1 October 2016

Beauty and the beast

My favourite art gallery, in fact one of my favourite places, in London is Tate Modern. And up until yesterday I had not been there since the new Switch House extension had been opened. Turns out it's a great space. I like.

After a really delicious and very fine lunch at the 9th floor restaurant we headed for the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibition currently on the go at Tate Modern.

I never bother with audio guides at art galleries. I'm not greatly interested in being told about what someone else thinks of a work or about the incidental history of the artist at around the time a piece of art was created. I just want to feed my eyes on it, soak up what I can from it and feel my feelings, independently from anyone else. I also don't like to move around an exhibition in the order it's laid out. I like to flit about either going to where there's some space or to whatever catches my eye. I like to consume art my way. I lose myself in some pictures, totally absorbed by the images and the colours; I commune with them, it can be a neo-meditative experience.

Red and Orange Streak

But enough of that bollocks, "what about the exhibition?" I hear you cry. The picture that caught my eye as I entered the first room was Red and Orange Streak. You can't not notice it; a painting of vivid red and orange on a black background. The orange forced my eye down the painting but I fought against it to stare longingly at the red. O'Keeffe's use of colour and the vibrancy with which she painted is like no other I have seen. Room 2 contained many of my favourite paintings including three 'music' pictures; Music - Pink & Blue Nº1, Music - Pink & Blue Nº2 and Blue & Green Music. All three are in oils whilst displaying a pastel like tone but with the sheen of oil. The shapes in her abstractions flow very smoothly and are pleasing to my eye. One gets out of her paintings what one wishes to get out I feel. You may see sensual and erotic shapes and nuances or you may see strawberry and peppermint candy-floss. Perhaps you will see both. Anyway for me it's all very pleasing. My favourite picture of the exhibition was quite a small one called Shell Nº2. It's pure O'Keeffe in one bite-sized chunk. Then there's her capturing of the harsh landscape of New Mexico in intense and bold hues with voluptuous undulating hills. Purple Hills anyone?

 
      Shell Nº2                    Blue & Green Music

Shell Nº2


I could eulogise indefinitely but don't worry dear reader I won't. All I will say is if you get a chance between now and the end of the month to go and see it go! In my opinion you won't regret it.

It was a grand day out I thought as we boarded our train home. Oh the joys of travelling on a train out of London at a peak time on a Friday night. After a brief altercation about the seating arrangements we settled down to what would hopefully be a relaxing journey. It was not to be. The be-suited party of half a dozen alcohol-fuelled alpha males saw to that. It is embarrassing to be a man in situations like that. They made half of the journey quite unbearable. Thankfully they all got off at Ipswich. They appeared to have been on some kind of day out which entailed large quantities of drink and possibly with a sport connection. They weren't physically aggressive but their 'banter' was of a bullying nature and often sexist. The first half of the journey home put a bit of a damper on the whole day. There really is no excuse for behaviour like that. Laddishness is a destructive force in society that should be constantly highlighted as totally unacceptable by the mass media rather than the 'eh eh get a load of this' type attitude that currently prevails. Brainless knob ends not welcome here!

Sunday 18 September 2016

I laugh in the face of tragedy

It's an embarrassing thing to do. But throughout my life, although thankfully not on every occasion, I have sometimes managed to laugh at really bad news. I don't know when it's going to happen and I have no control over it. It just happens. Likewise I will also say inappropriate things on odd occasions. Words will come out of my mouth that either I wouldn't dream of saying ever or would never dream of saying in the particular situation that I find myself in at that time. Often this sort of thing happens at social gatherings. I think because I'm never comfortable in largish social groups its some kind of reaction to the situation in which I find myself. It's probably a nerves thing. The trouble is I will say something that is out of place, realise my error, and then rather than just shut up completely I will then in some vain way attempt to explain my faux pas by saying further ridiculous stuff. Language is my downfall.

Now I'm sure I'm not alone in this. There's probably a name for it. There's a name for all conditions these days it would seem. In the cold light of day one can sort of understand it. Well I can. Unfortunately my affliction doesn't stop there. In these days of the interweb and social media I find myself doing similar online. It happens mostly in the situation when you are either live chatting or very nearly live chatting. I will type something inappropriate or out of character and will have pressed the send button before I have realised what I have done. Then I panic! I forget the old adage when you're in a hole stop digging and just carry on making matters worse. After that I retreat, licking my wounds and wondering how it happened. Eventually of course I get over myself and the pain starts to subside and I will forget about it until the next time. Brains are funny old things.

Hopefully people that know me realise that I try very hard to be kind, considerate and quite shy. Perhaps they have never even noticed this foible or just put it down to strange idiosyncrasy. Perhaps it's just me that notices. I know not.

Sunday 21 August 2016

What is Leadership?

Sadly we live in a society where a large proportion of the people seem incapable of thinking for themselves; they believe what they are conditioned to believe. They tend to believe that leaders should be loud, arrogant, and forceful with steadfast non-compromising ideas. They also confuse leadership with management. The two are entirely different animals.

Leadership inspires, facilitates and empowers. Leaders can't tell you what to do. Leaders don't organise, managers do that.

I get really angry when people say that Jeremy Corbyn isn't a good leader. That's nonsense. After Tony Benn he's the most inspiring politician that I've ever heard speak. Through Jeremy we are moving towards the Labour Party membership being truly empowered. And his willingness to entertain a mix of ideas and to promote inclusiveness would seem to me to be facilitating. Jeremy with a vibrant and dedicated party behind him can make a difference. It's the non-believers that will be the downfall of the party. If they don't want to be part of a positive, democratic socialist party I wish they'd just do the decent thing and fuck off to a place where they're more comfortable, please.




Saturday 20 August 2016

British Art Show 8

Appreciating art is very subjective; there is no such thing as good or bad art, it's down to what you like.

Today I visited Norwich Castle to see the: "British Art Show 8 is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to see some of the brightest names in contemporary art." You would hope that with a description like that there would be something to get excited about, but for me not so. In fairness the show is spread over three venues and I've only viewed one, so it could be that the Castle show is a duffer and the other two are fantastic but I don't really feel inspired to even bother considering going to see them. If these are the brightest in contemporary art (whatever that means) then I think Britain has a big problem. This exhibition was the most turgid and safe 'professional' exhibition I've been to in quite a while. It made the Martin Creed exhibition I went to a few years ago, a disappointing exhibition I tend to judge everything by now, look positively exciting. thank fully I know differently; there are large numbers of people up and down this country producing interesting and vibrant art, rather than the we've done our time at Art College got our degree so we must be really important artists brigade. People's art is the way forward and not this faux art prescribed by elitists!

For me the British Art Show 8 was dull beyond compare. Enter at your peril, or at least have a strong coffee or two before going.



Monday 4 July 2016

Heartbreak Hotel

Sorry to break it to you but The Eagles were wrong; quite often you don't check out any time you want but you do leave. Life is like a stop at a hotel; we check in a birth, for a short stay, checking out at death. During our stay if we're lucky we will have a few good times in amongst the pain and the heartbreak.

I've been heartbroken three times in my life. The first was as a naive ten year old, coming home with the results of my eleven plus in a small brown envelope. That small brown envelope contained a life sentence. I had failed that ridiculous and cruel exam. I was written off, consigned to the scrap heap and at such a young age as well. Exams are cruel. Exams are evil. I never recovered from that rejection. Heartbreak is like that. It leaves a permanent scar.

And my most recent heartbreak?
Well it happened just over a week ago. The referendum on the UK's EU membership. How upset I was about it even took me by surprise. It felt like a relationship break up or bereavement. I suppose it is a relationship break up. One that I don't want to happen even though I know it will. It's fair to say that, reiterating my previous post, I was devastated. How could so many people be so wrong?
So much ignorance. So much pain.

I used to dismiss or ridicule people when they stated that they were passionate about this or that. What I didn't realise was that I am passionate about the EU. I want to remain a European. And, if it's within my power, one way or another, I will achieve that goal.


I try to be a good person. I try to see other people's point of view if I am able, and if it doesn't go against fundamental human rights. But last week's result had me so incensed that I produced the picture above. I many ways it goes against much of what I stand for, but I make no apologies for publishing it. I needed to; otherwise I would have probably combusted.

Contrary to what some might think I don't believe the reasons why people voted to leave the EU are that simplistic. There are any number of misguided reason s from those on the right or the so called left as to why they voted to leave, although I've yet to hear a reason that actually makes sense to me. Having said that, I do believe that the majority who voted to leave did so for racist reasons. It makes me sick in my stomach. Racists are ignorant. Pig-shit ignorant. It's something that cannot be justified on any level. It's abhorrent to any civilised person. England needs to be ashamed of itself. What a hateful place this has become.

Sunday 26 June 2016

Stranded

A few years ago someone I know asked me if I considered myself English or British. Without hesitation I answered neither, I'm European I said. And that's how I have felt for a long time and still feel now.

As you can imagine I feel angry, sad and generally bemused by the incredulity of the referendum result. I've calmed down now so I won't be quite as insulting as I have been in recent days on social media. In fact I had to initiate a self-imposed ban on social media to stop myself from being mega insulting to so many people. I've come to terms now with the result and feel that those who voted for out will mostly be the ones that suffer because of it and because of that don't feel quite so bad.

The only good thing to come out of this is the possible breakup of the United Kingdom. As much as I find nationalism distasteful I do wish the Scots the best of luck with their future in Europe. I have no doubt that this time they will gain their independence and remain in Europe. I also think that an independent Scotland could prosper because of England's idiotic decision to leave the EU. Industry will flock to north of the border because of what the English plebs have decided.

My biggest concern is for the poor people of Northern Ireland. They have been shat on big time and result of this referendum could well reignite the violence that was so successfully subdued in the 90s. I hope they can find a way through but fear that unless a united Ireland is achieved somehow shit will happen again. If only the loyalists could see that England doesn't give a bugger about them.

This referendum has brought out the nastiest of the nasty in some people, particularly white obese racists from Essex and Lincolnshire, but not exclusively.

I shall continue to be blunt and try to shock the idiots back to sort of decency but I doubt my efforts will have much effect.

As much as I like the writing of George Orwell I fear Aldous Huxley has won out. Time will tell.


Thomson clan dress tartan - the future?

Sunday 19 June 2016

Do you want to be in my gang, my gang, my gang?

Events don’t happen in isolation. Life on earth is an ongoing chain reaction with the past influencing the present and the future. As humans many of us like to categorise or compartmentalise bits of life. We want things to be black and white. But life ain’t like that. It's never that tidy. Pigeon holes are dangerous, and the human race is at its most dangerous and downright despicable when sections of it are tribal.

When people belong to a tribe all rational thinking goes out of the window. If you are not in a tribe you are the enemy. The tribe stifles creativity. The collective noun for sheep should be tribe. Tribal members are just one of the herd. They are no longer individuals. The tribe allows for easier manipulation. Tribe members become the foot soldiers to carry out the dirty work of those that pull the strings. In this country those pulling the strings are the white male English elite.

Countries, family, religion and sport are the main culprits when it comes to the creation of tribes. Tribe members, or sheeple, take the view that their tribe is the most important thing in the world and non tribe members are somehow worthless. Fascism loves tribes

I’m all for collectivism in the sense of working together for the common good, but I don’t see that in doing so your identity should be governed by the collective.

I think that events this week have reinforced my belief that tribalism is a parasite that is going to slowly but surely destroy the human race.

The world would be a better place without countries, 'family', religion or sport. Tribes divide. We need to learn to live together before it's too late.




I choose my blog titles very carefully by the way.

Sunday 29 May 2016

Dr Zeeman’s Catastrophe Machine Show

I've been aware of the poet Martin Figura for a couple of years. I've seen him perform three times before Thursday night's performance of Dr Zeeman’s Catastrophe Machine Show. The show was part of the Norfolk and Norwich festival. I don't think I've ever seen a more absorbing and spellbinding one person performance of poetry and prose. It seems to be a mix of autobiography and poetic licence, which along with some inspiring props and well displayed photos and graphics to support Martin's charming and humorous writing makes for a wondrous evening.

It's a show that will make you smile, laugh, empathise and engender an inner glow. If you get the chance it's a must see!


Wednesday 11 May 2016

Object Oriented Art

Sometimes when I publish my art on The Art of Being Paul Garrard I do so without being entirely happy with a piece. Sometimes ideas work and sometimes they don't. And just because I don't like something that I've produced it doesn't mean that someone out there won't like it or find it interesting. So I often publish work and work in progress just in case someone finds value in it.

I recently completed a picture called Rotunda. Something didn't feel quite right about it but I couldn't quite work out what so I put it on the web regardless. I kept on thinking. In the meantime here is the original picture:



Object oriented programming in the computer world has been around for a long time. Essentially a programme is made up of different objects that have certain functions, routines or tasks. You can use those objects over and over again in different configurations and in different programmes. It saves painstakingly rewriting code from scratch. Well the same can apply to digital art. The programmes that I use to create my art allow you to use bits over and over ad infinitum. Digital art programmes are powerful tools. I can take a section from one of my pictures and transform it into some entirely different. Some might think that it's somehow cheating and I'm sure many think that digital is not proper art. People are entitled to their opinions but of course I disagree. And what is art anyway? Also I firmly believe that had he been alive today Leonardo Da Vinci would have used digital.

Anyway, back to Rotunda. Despite my not liking the original version I still felt that as a picture it had potential. So I reworked a section and transformed it into a new picture with a different direction. I'm rather pleased with it. I hope you like it. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you Rotunda II:




Sunday 1 May 2016

We are artists you and I

Art is not exclusively a rich man's sport. I realise that it might be perceived as such, particularly in the media, but it is not so. The British Critical Establishment try to tell us what is and isn't art, but in no way do we have to accept that. Based on the narrow-minded opinions of the critical elite, the education system churns out clones of what are defined as talented artists; giving them a certificate to back this up. You can legitimately teach craft, but in no way can you teach anyone to be an artist. Art is subjective; it is in the eye of the beholder, there are no rules defining what art should or should not be. There is no good art and there is no bad art, just art.

High prices at art auctions reinforce the myth that artists are good or bad, winners or losers. The elite use the language of competition and false quality standards to bolster the artistic myths. There is no competition in art. Art is beyond competition. In the South Sea bubble of the elitist art world a value system is applied that is meaningless in the extreme. Art critics give the thumbs up to what they see as good art based on their fictitious criteria. These art critics, these self-styled experts on art are charlatans. Unfortunately as with the Emperor's new clothes most believe what the charlatans say. The fashionistas dictate what's in and what's not and so that gallery content and major exhibitions are influenced by just a few. And thus a commodity is born.

Art is whatever you want it to be.

There is one artist above all others who has been so influential in the way that I look at art and in particular how I creatively operate. His name was Ken Sprague. I first became aware of him in the 1970s through his posters and flyers for a number of left wing political campaigns. I liked his bold, sometimes neo-brutalist, lino prints. It was a style that got the message across. Ken was direct in his message. Then in the 1980s he presented a television series called 'Everyone a Special Kind of Artist' where he highlighted 'ordinary' folk who practised their art for the pure love, enjoyment and fulfilment it brought them. Since then 'Everyone a Special Kind of Artist' has been my mantra.

'Everyone a Special Kind of Artist' is derived from a quote often used by Eric Gill, an artist and designer of some rather pleasing typefaces, and unfortunately a practitioner, allegedly, of some rather dubious moral behaviour. That quote is 'An artist is not a special kind of man, but every man is a special kind of artist' and as I understand it originally comes from the philosopher Ananda Coomaraswamy.

The idea that only a chosen few can be artists is yet another piece of pernicious propaganda perpetrated by the elite who continue to oppress us. The elitist concept of art is a downright lie. If you want to be an artist then you can be.

We need to liberate art. We need a mass movement of art participants. Anyone can be an artist if they want to be. Seize that notion and own it. Go forth and create.



Saturday 23 April 2016

Cry. Sod Harry. Fuck England and St George!

I’m not against collectives per se. Collectives based on progressive ideas can be a force for good. The concept of international socialism is a laudable cause. But when collectivism manifests itself as nationalism and/or patriotism then we need to worry. Being proud of where you are born, a land mass, a line drawn in the sand is the territory of the half-wit. Why should you want to identify with the people that live in your vicinity just because they live in your vicinity? Life should be all about toleration and celebrating diversity and not about being in one homogenous tribe.

Down the centuries so many barbaric acts have been committed in the name of England, or more accurately the English elite that lord over us, that effectively as a ‘nation’ we all have blood on our hands.

We can’t. There is no such thing. Genetically we are a mongrel 'nation' and have been since time began. The Englishman* is a myth.


We all have blood on our hands



*I use the masculine term because in this unequal world it is men who have invented nationhood and religion in order to oppress.

Shakespeare Day - A Bank Holiday?

I really would like to see today as Shakespeare Day, a bank holiday (as you can never have enough of those), a day to celebrate our cultural heritage. Not because Shakespeare needs the PR, think he’s being doing quite nicely on that front for a few hundred years, but because it deflects the jingoism and ridiculous nonsense of St George. The arts enrich our lives, they are good for our wellbeing, and they help us on the road to happiness and fulfilment. The arts celebrate diversity.

Angry, bored, depressed, perplexed, stressed, having trouble making sense of the world or just generally unhappy?
Then get some art in your life. Open your heart to the arts. You’ll feel so much better for it.


Scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing), William Blake, ca. 1825 — Source.

Friday 8 April 2016

On losing my virginity

I'm sure you know the score; the anticipation is overwhelming, the pulse races as the nerves build and the fear of failure weighs heavy on the mind. Venturing into unchartered waters can be quite traumatic.

I've always been a late developer which probably accounts for my boyish looks. People are often surprised at how old I am. Apparently I look younger than my given years. It has been commented on many times. That's what good clean living does for you I guess.

At the tender age of 60 I am about to lose my exhibiting virginity. As from Sunday evening 14 pieces of my art will be on view to the public at the Art of Norwich Nº43 exhibition. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a teeny bit apprehensive. I not particularly worried about how my work is received but very worried that my creations will stay hanging in situ. I'm responsible for putting the fixings in the board that my pictures will hang upon. I'm shit at DIY and as we know from the Bard of Barking, "the laws of gravity are very, very strict". It could all end in tears.


Wednesday 30 March 2016

P-put it to the test-o

He said 'What do you think about my manifesto?'
'I like a manifesto, put it to the test-o.'




I wrote this manifesto (below) in 1982 and it still pretty much sums up how I feel about art and my art in particular. Everybody can be an artist. Nobody can tell you what is and isn't art and what you should like. Nobody can tell you how to enjoy art. Art is not exclusively for the elite. Art really needs to be democratised.



Sunday 13 March 2016

Meet Fred


This is Fred. He's a dapper dude. I suspect this is what passed for cool in December 1920, and it still looks cool today.


Who is he?

Well he's definitely a relative of mine. We* think he's Granddad Garrard's brother. If this is so it makes him my great uncle. I don't ever remember meeting him. In fact I know virtually nothing about him. And in a way I'm fine with that. I'm not overly bothered about family history. I've done the odd thing on here about family but it doesn't figure greatly as a driving force in my life. I don't get the being tied genetically is more important than being connected with like minded people thing.

The gene pool is fickle and cruel sea, as It's interesting how someone as handsome as fred can mutate into an ugly bugger like me. Nature is without emotion.

I'm tempted to invent a fable around this photo and perhaps one day I will. But for now I'll let him rest in peace.



*My mother and sisters

Friday 11 March 2016

Free ‘Money’ - Millions!

Would you like a free wad?

What must it be like to give away millions?*

What is money, anyway?
Money is artifice; a promise of a perceived value; an abstract concept. Its practical value can oscillate wildly, particularly in uncertain times.

What is art?
Art is in the eye of the beholder.


Is art currency?
Only if you want it to be. Like money art has value if you believe it has value. The minute you stop believing it’s all worthless. But of course art can have value way beyond any recognised monetary worth; an aesthetic, cerebral or decorative value. Think about it!


The great currency give away
I’ve designed my own artistic currency. There is no promise of any monetary value but if you like my art you may feel that it has a certain intrinsic value.

Each one of these folding sheets of paper ‘money’ is worth a million notes*. Up until now I’ve been printing out a few at a time and leaving them in strategic places as an experiment in found art. I leave them on trains and buses, in racks of leaflets, as extra tips in restaurants and extra donations in collection boxes, in library books, in pubs partially tucked under a beer mat and in other public places where they might be observed by the curious.

Would you like a free wad of this ‘cash’?
I’ve had several thousand printed so if you would like a wad at absolutely no charge to yourself then please contact me and I’ll send you a goodly supply of notes. Help spread the joy. Distribute them as freely as you wish. Feel like you are an eccentric millionaire. Guaranteed to break the ice at parties! Contact me and the ‘cash’ is yours. Be part of my art experiment.

*please note that this ‘currency’ has absolutely no guaranteed monetary value. The notes are purely works of art.



If you would like a free wad of artist cash, yes at absolutely no charge to yourself, then please fill in your name and address below and I’ll send you a goodly supply of notes. Help spread the joy. Distribute them as freely as you wish. Feel like you are an eccentric millionaire. Guaranteed to break the ice at parties! Apply now and the ‘cash’ is yours.




Fill out my online form.
Use Wufoo integrations and get your data to your favorite apps.


Saturday 23 January 2016

Why does society continue to ask the wrong questions?

Why is society so fixated with quick fix solutions to failed outcomes, rather than truly questioning the diverse root causes of a particular problem? Things can only ever be improved if we are brave enough to think things through in greater detail than most people do now. Nothing is ever black and white. Answers are rarely simple, and on the odd occasion that they are society won’t accept them. Society doesn’t like the unpalatable ‘truth’. Society would rather blame a scapegoat than get to root causes.

All discrimination is evil. It only serves to divide society. Trying to right wrongs with other wrongs is wrong. It doesn’t work. Initially it might apply a superficial gloss and appear to be a solution but deep down, bubbling away will be the seeds of discontent, slowly seething and growing. Positive discrimination isn’t. It’s an oxymoron. Whilst the human race continues its fixation with competition there will always be discrimination in one form or another. Competition ensures that there are always winners and losers. Should we really label people losers? I don’t think so. Nobody should be considered a loser.

That brings me onto the over-hyped nonsense known as the Oscars. The recent comments and complaints about the racist nature of the Oscars along with Charlotte Rampling's reported opinions on the matter are all ignoring the obvious. Why is society not questioning the misguided need to have competitions right across the arts? The ‘best of’ label applied to any art form is totally without any validity. Appreciation of the arts can only ever be subjective. Popularity is never a measure of quality. There are no quality standards in the arts and any attempt to apply them is pure artifice. ‘Good’ or ‘bad’ can’t be applied to the vocabulary that describes the arts. Unfortunately many people can’t seem to cope with abstracts. They bizarrely have to categorise and objectivise the arts. But it doesn’t have to be this way. So rather than this smoke-screen of great debate about who said what and the possible nature of the alleged inherent racism within the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences why is nobody questioning the need for the Oscars in the first place?

Let’s eradicate arts competitions as they have no place in a civilised society!



Tuesday 5 January 2016

The great art giveaway

Well not really a great giveaway, but I am trying to shout a bit louder about my art; up until now I've been quite passive about promoting it. I'm hoping to change that. I have a number of things in the pipeline for this year which I will tell the world about once I'm able.

I've started a mailing list to help keep people informed about what I'm up to with my work. I'm very keen for people to sign up. I won't bombard with masses of emails, but from time to time there may be giveaways and unique offers.

WIN WIN WIN WIN
Those on my mailing list will be put into a free prize draw and every quarter one lucky person will receive a limited edition print (signed and numbered).

What are you waiting for?
Please sign up today.