TRAVEL DIARY

A weblog regularly updated by Jodi Rose.

Thursday, July 7, 2005

12:44 PM
Posted by jodi rose

re-establishing connection with my shadowy academic double life.
also re-engaging with social conscience and political agenda and background. nothing like growing up with a socialist anarchist single mother who dedicates her life to writing unfashionable political theatre to keep you honest :)

thinking about the anti-corporate protests going on around the G8, the alternative ideas mostly seem self-evidently sensible and reasonable to me - I just really don't understand capitalism. the yes men made a brilliant appearance on 'enough rope' with denton, talking about their impersonations of wto officers when they had been invited to speak at various events - said they expected to get hauled out by security, making preposterous suggestions in their speeches about free market democracy and dissolving the wto - they started at outrageous and went off the deeo end, but they just couldn't go far enough. very entertaining and concise - denton asked how they make a living, if they do this full-time - one said, well I've been wearing the same pants for a week, and live very frugally - and sometimes we get mistaken for art. and funded.
http://www.theyesmen.org/

also reading 'continental drifts' by nicholas fraser, engaging and thought provoking essays about the new europe - started with 'paris in the abstract', where he talks about the hero of Camus' The Fall, bing 'a left bank lawyer, a proponent of good causes who came to distrust his altruistic impulses. He decided that he believed in nothing. Instead of keeping quiet about his loss of belief he wishes to impose it on the rest of the world. So he hung out in bars, in search of strangers, whome he attempted to convert to nihilism.'
then goes on to talk about how the characters failure to save a woman who jumps off a bridge is the pivotal moment in the book and provides a reason for his inherent sense of guilt.

well, I'm happy to hang out on bridges and try to convert strangers to finding joy and wonder and delight in the world meaning whatever they would like it to mean. being kind to each other and gentle with yourself, I find is often a good start. smiling at strangers on the street - I know I've had times where a random smile from someone walking past is the only thing that's kept me going that day. never underestimate the power of small decisions and momentary actions - they all add up.

that said, also identified with graham greene as quoted by clive james, again on denton. he talked about the 'chip of ice in the writers heart' (or artists) where everything is material. you can be sobbing, heartfelt, in genuine misery - and think - hey, this is great, I can use this.
it plays havoc with your love life, said clive, if you have one.
indeed. good to hear the concept being discussed, on ocassion I have wondered if it was some fatal flaw in me, that even being completely over sensitive and incredibly attuned to emotional nuances, I can also be scarily pragmatic and detached. glad to know it's just part of being an artist.

in my current fascination with memoir writing - preparation for those 4 months in slovakia - I've just started reading 'stargazing' about a young man working in lighthouses for 6 months in 1973. intriguing so far.

back out into the world now, got some art to check out at acca and ngv.