Raymond Pettibon's "No Title (Do I Bother)"

I saw this at Sadie Coles HQ.

Comic-y art is interesting because it can be so dramatic despite being a cartoon, and create a world that is complex and real in its own way. It's intriguing how work that is completely flat can have so much depth and mystery.

Laura Keeble's "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing!"

I saw this at the John Moores Painting Prize 2012 and I like it a lot. I like working with found objects, and I like the contrast between the delicate work and the trash it is painted on. The title seems to be a reference to an advertising campaign of Coca-Cola's which was fairly annoying and unrealistically perky and cheery, and of course had nothing to do with the product and was an instance of a giant corporation attempting to seem cute and friendly. This piece creates a visual of all that being stomped on.

I seem to be building up a theme of attacking false perkiness with cynicism. Maybe there's too much fake smiling going on, or maybe I'm devolving into Holden Caulfield. It's like I'm eleven again.

Contrast and Stuff 2

Borgore - Guided Relaxation Dub

Because CONTRAST AND STUFF.

Contrast and Stuff

Something I use a lot in my work is contrast. Sometimes it reminds me a bit of the Chapman brothers. I try to stay away from this, as I find their ideas cheap, easy and formulaic. Their work tends to seem a bit like: 1. pick something cute/childlike/innocent/classic/traditional, 2. pick something grotesque/crude/offensive, 3. mash them together.

Then again, sometimes I think I read too much into it, and it's all just a unique way of showcasing technical skill (which they definitely seem to have). I could also not be reading far enough into it. There could be some sort of subtle, intriguing idea behind each of their works that they just aren't explaining.

This is where I must abruptly start thinking in bullet points.

A thing I like:

'Hold My Hand' by Kimya Dawson

"it sucks when for a little kid living means lying

and the only place you feel safe is pretending you're flying
and you'd rather be caught dead than be caught crying
will you hold my hand?

abuse and neglect are highly contagious so
i called that social worker up and i said "hey lady you're outrageous"
she said "smarty-pants, you want a gold star?" i said
"no i wanna bash your head in with a crowbar, but
the cycle of violence has to end somewhere"

come and take a swim with me
we'll wait underwater patiently
for the output of endorphins as we're swallowed by the sea
will you hold my hand?
will you hold my hand?
will you hold my hand?"

Because:

- This song brings childlike innocence and harsh realities together.

- I find it interesting how it sounds naive, but in a way is the opposite of that; if you deal with awful, damaging things and come out of it still childlike and innocent, you have to have been tough in some way.

Liverpool Biennial 2012

I will say something about this soon.

Strangers Telling You To Smile, and Similar Stupid Crap

At the end of last year, some twee little print-outs started appearing on the walls of the Camberwell/Chelsea/Wimbledon Progression Centre. They were preaching something about how we should all smile because it tricks our brains into thinking we're happy and blah blah blah... we've all heard it before. I don't know where they came from. They could have been part of someone's work, or they could have been an idea of a staff member (the type who's also into "team building exercises" and probably at one point has used the phrase "cool beans"). I wasn't really curious, and I also wasn't that irritated by them, no matter how I sound right now. However, I do find the whole business of "advice" of that sort really patronising. Stuff about how many more muscles it takes to frown than to smile (completely ignoring the fact that using more muscles is generally considered a positive thing)... or when strangers tell you to smile, presumably because they've mistaken your normal face for an angry one or something like that (and since when did it become socially acceptable to give orders to random strangers? Whether it's to "smile" or to "roll over," it's not okay)... it's a shame that crap like this has to be the face of positivity. Being happy is a VERY GOOD THING, but thoughtless "advice" does not solve anyone's problems. "Turn that frown upside down!" may have worked for someone at some point, but now it's just cliched and meaningless, and throwing it at people at random points is likely to have a bad effect. Generic, overused advice is sort of like a crowbar in a way. Crowbars were designed for a specific purpose, but people just hit things with them. All advice becomes shitty advice when you use it thoughtlessly. Please don't put up posters telling everyone to smile as if you've assumed that no one has any real problems. And please don't tell strangers to smile as if their current mood is just a mistake and they have no reason to be that way. (And please don't assume people are unhappy based on nothing.)

To sum up! Silly advice. Crowbars. I have made a short video based on this.

Sincerity and Children

Children's programmes can be very twee and insincere. They're overly censored, artificially bright and happy, and just seem completely the opposite of honest. They are an adult's dishonest views on childlike things - adults pretending to like silly songs and simple crafts.

Children are often very sincere. While I am absolutely not one of those people who glorifies childlike innocence and thinks everything they do is special, I have to say that children are usually the most sincere people (when I was little I liked to glare at priests while they tried to shake my hand, while my mum did not share this... hobby). They will say what they mean and not see a reason to hide how they feel.

I am not sure where I'm going with this.

Tracey Emin has that childlike sincerity, I think. She can be vulgar, but I think it's more vulgar when people pretend not to be. We are not children, so to pretend to be as innocent as children would be lying. Tracey Emin puts things very simply in her work and in what she says. She deals with mature topics in a blunt, childlike way, and the raw, real emotion she conveys is moving and genuine.

(Tracey Emin, "Self Presovasion," 2005)

I think if children's TV presenters were actually just big children like they pretend to be, they'd be a lot more open and blunt. I'd love to hear a Teletubbie (sp?) whine about menstrual cramps.