There's always something worth working on

What?

Every teacher knows the look.  Eyes that stare and don’t see.  The look of blank incomprehension.  I know it too, not only from years of experience, but also from last night!

            It is one thing to have a class not know what you are on about, it is quite another to have fellow poets in your Poetry Group look at you in the same way.

            I was, I must say, quietly pleased with my effort from the freewrite, which was on ‘conflict’ and I had taken on board a suggestion from Maria, the group leader that evening, to think about the concept of whether the word or the sword was the more powerful.  This came out as a rather odd scenario in my writing where, in the poem, I burned a copy of Macbeth and then there were a few phrases from the play and . . . OK, I know it sounds a bit odd, but it seemed crystal clear to me when I wrote it.  Not crystal clear to the others and they were experienced poetry readers and writers.

            I brooded on the reception of my piece and I was loath to let it go.  This morning and this afternoon I have been working on it and, eventually I got something which I think is a little clearer than the original.

            A few changes, quite important changes, and I think it reads a little better.  You can read my present draft of the poem, Torture, at: http://smrnewpoems.blogspot.com.es And I would appreciate comments!

Eating out again!

Lunch yesterday was a bit of a disaster, it was frankly awful, and we were not surprised that the restaurant is for sale.  I hope the sale goes through quickly and new management makes the eating experience rather better than it was!  I shall protect the guilty here and not name it, except to say that it is next to a waterfall on a roundabout – which narrows it down a bit!  I hope the owners succeed in their next enterprise because the restaurant trade is not for them.

            So, today we went to a tried and tested restaurant within walking distance of us (and if you know me, that means it is very near) and had an excellent meal.  This was in the restaurant that some friends will be staying in when they come for the United Nations Day Meal in October – The Solifemar.  For €14 each we had an introductory glass of vermouth, a three course meal, coffee and a shot after.  I also had a bottle of wine with Casera thrown in too.  Oh yes, with bread, olives and a few crisps too!  Now that is what I call value for money!

            You can check out a selection of restaurants we have patronized by going to Toni’s blog at: http://catalunyaplacetoeat.blogspot.com.es

Freedom short lived

The brief relaxation which came with the sending in of the pro forma has now officially ended and I am deep in the theoretical justifications and explanations for Conceptual Art.  I will give you a flavour of what we have to read in one of the more approachable comments in our text book: 

But the development of Conceptual Art was in part impelled by a perception that the increasing co-option of art to a modernist culture of spectacle had been achieved at the expense of its critical and subversive content.  

So there!  Disagree if you dare!

            

          To be fair the books that we have to read, if taken in bits and read carefully, guide you fairly clearly through a minefield of pretention.  And you have to keep a firm hold of your sense of reality as you look at some of the art work that we are supposed to be considering.

            For example.  Take a piece by Lawrence Weiner.  The title of the piece is A River Spanned, 1969 and the photograph that we have of it is from the exhibition ‘When Attitudes become Form’ Institute of Contemporary Art, London, September 1969.  The exhibit takes the form of a card with: 116  LAWRENCE WEINER A River Spanned 1969 typed on it.  The curator of the exhibition took the decision, as he was fully entitled to do by the artist, not to realise the work but merely to put the card there as an indication of what might be done.  He could, as he suggested, have fired a line across the Thames attached to an arrow and therefore, spanned the river.  But he decided not to.

            So that is the sort of stuff that we are looking at now.  It makes André’s bricks and Judd’s metal boxes look positively fussy by comparison! 

            And I have to write an essay on things like this as well! 

           

            I’m loving it!

A month is a long time

Day 2 of the cycling.

And the chain came off the gears!  Luckily it happened when I was within easy walking distance of the house, but it was a disturbing moment and, although I was sure that it could be repaired, or replaced without too much effort.  I did not intend to find out.  I fell into Toni’s arms, tearing a small, cambric handkerchief and having a fit of the vapours.  Metaphorically.  It did the trick and, eventually, Toni agreed to show me how to put the bloody thing back.

            The good thing about this lesson is that I obviously need to do more shopping.  I seem to remember that in the dim and distant past there used to be a mini satchel attached to the back of the seat holding essential tools for on-road repairs.  I have no intention whatsoever of doing anything more technical that undoing the three screws that hold the chain guard in place, but I like the idea of further purchases.  And after all, a month is a long time when you don’t really like cycling but have no other way (I’m NOT walking) to find a parking space in the building site that is the leisure centre at the moment.

            I know I make my cycling journey sound like something epic, and in fact the leisure centre is not that far from the house, but it is an unusual form of transport of a confirmed driver like myself and so it gives a whole new view of the world.

            I now hate drivers.  They are all inconsiderate bastards and they care nothing for non-polluting cyclists who are trying to save the world.  Damn them all to hell!

            The truly amazing thing is how cyclists seem to grow horns and tails when seen from behind the windscreen of a car!

Back to almost normal

Toni’s tummy is now functioning properly and so we were able to go out and celebrate with a menu del dia in one of our favourite restaurants with an uninterrupted view of the sea: La Rincon de Lola.  We had our favourite circular table in the window and the meal was as good as usual, though the service was a little slow.

            The place is undergoing refashioning and each new improvement makes us worry about their taking advantage and upping the price.  At the moment everything is the same – and recommendably excellent value!  We are just hoping that their improvements are to increase their seating area and to increase their prices!  We shall see.

OU meltdown!

A new volume of descriptions of Conceptual art is threatening us; an outline of our project has to be handed in and a further essay is required.  There are CDs to listen to and DVDs to watch.  This particular point seems like a crisis point in our learning.  I’m loving it!

            My last essay’s mark will be a bit of a low point, as I expect little from my chatty but hardly academic ramble through some ‘difficult’ art, but, as long as I get something for my work it should tip my marks into the acceptable zone and I can relax a little about the last essay.  Not that I intend to, because I like the challenge which the outer reaches of Conceptual (however you define it) Art flings in the face or ear or mouth of the spectator.  This is the sort of art that I love defending just to push people to the final, foaming scream of uncomprehending rejection.

            So far, and this is only in the opening pages of the section we have been asked to look at a notice saying that someone had sprayed an entire can of paint directly on the floor; to think about a series of photographs taken at random that we were not shown; and . . . but I don’t want to add fuel to the howls of outrage that have accompanied the progress of our course, sometimes from the participants!

            This essay will be the last one we have to complete before we turn our entire attention to the long essay or mini thesis that we have to write to complete the course.  

Bring it on!

And my poems, which are not going so well at the moment, may be found at: 
http://smrnewpoems.blogspot.com.es/