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So, December and back in winter UK.  Some efforts to get used to a new climate!!

 

At work too. The university…..

 

 

 

 

I get to see the new William Blake exhibition at the Tate Britain; the first for twenty years or more.

 

 

 

 

This is probably the third major exhibition of his that I have seen and each one has been very different from the last. The first was just lots of pieces on show; the second offered a number of historical narratives – as was the norm in museum approach at the time. I was getting ready not to like this one. However, I was mistaken: it was a fine show. The pieces were not too crowded – either in terms of spaces between them or the narratives they offered.

 

 

 

Amused to see this notice at the entrance to the exhibition:

 

 

Good to see some actual writing in Blake’s own hand. Also, a very nice photo of the house in Broad Street, London where he was born:

 

 

 

 

 

This reminded me that he was actually born into quite a comfortable family: his parents kept a haberdasher/ hardware shop.  Quite something in 1757!!! There is always controversy as to how well off Blake was. It is true that aside from his original works – which he sold very little – he did have a number of good commissions for engraving – which was his profession. That being said, expenses were high – all that copper plating for his books ( Jerusalem is 100 plates!). Apart from his three years in Felpham, he lived most of his life with his wife in two rooms! So, he could not be that rich. When he died, most of the engraved copper plates were sold off to support his widow! Only one fragment remains.

 

 

 

Blake was/ is a major influence on me since my early days. I wrote various pieces around him here:

http://www.michaelgrenfell.co.uk/literature/blake-and-gnosis/

 

 

 

The exhibition included the famous Sea of Time and Space from Arlington Court, Devon.

 

 

 

 

This picture was only discovered later in the C20 when it was found covered in dust on top of a wardrobe. Happily, the dust had protected it from the light, which faded many of his watercolours. This picture is seminal piece from him and sets out his view of life/ death, souls, and the material/ spiritual worlds. For him, water signifies materialism; so we see people drowning in it, and indeed being saved from it when the ‘fabric’ of existence is severed. I wrote a piece on the Beach Boys where I pursued ‘water’, the sea, as a metaphor for life – connecting it with Heideggerian Dasein. A lot of fun.  It is here:

http://www.michaelgrenfell.co.uk/bourdieu/bourdieu-and-the-beach-boys/

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas and some nice flowers sent to me from a dear friend:

 

 

 

 

Also, a nice card from Musica en Moviemiento together with a recording of a piece we did on the recent course:

 

 

 

 

Audio Player

 

 

The Forest is very wintry:

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some nice encouraging New Year cards/ video going the rounds:

 

 

 

 

 

This month I have been reading a new biography of Hermann Hesse, a writer I often come back to at difficult times. He seems to understand the tension between the inner and outer worlds and what to make of it.

 

 

 

 

 

Some nice soundscape sounds from Daniel Lanois as my CD of the month:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

So, way behind with last month’s report; therefore, I have decided to offer a two-month bumper posting. This kind of works out since I have been away for 6 weeks in Australia and South American. In a way, it is holiday ‘snaps’ but, along the way some quite telling experiences.

 

 

 

Before I even left, I managed to take in some art in London.

 

 

Firstly, the extraordinary sculpture piece in the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern in London. The piece is called Fons Americanus by the artist Kara Walker. It stands some 13 meters high and is a kind of mimic of the sculpture of outside Buckingham Palace, London, which celebrates Victorian Imperialism. However, in this piece, the artist draws attention to the slave trade on which the wealth of Britain was made. A theme which had resonances while I was in South America – reading of the millions of slaves that were brought to that continent to service the various natural exploitations there. A kind of piece about the links between America, Europe and Africa.

 

 

 

 

Also, the Anthony Gormley at the Royal Academy.

 

 

 

 

Back at the Tate Modern and the somewhat whimsical pieces by the Danish artist Olafur Eliasson. Interestingly, he too had a Turbine Hall installation some years ago: a big sun set in mist in which spectators were invited to sit. The sensual nature of his art was demonstrated in the various pieces in various ways: his interest in architecture; shapes; colours. One had distorted 3-D effects, another mist with lights running through it; still another where you are invited to walk through a long tunnel of coloured mist. Perhaps not the most profound art but certainly I cannot think of another that invites you to get inside it in such a complete way.

 

       

 

 

   

 

   

 

 

Before I leave, the last rose of summe in my garden:

 

 

 

 

And some photos – then and now – of Lyndhurst where I live:

 

 

 

 

First, Fremantle, Perth, West Australia. One of my favourite places. The plan is to mix some business – in effect sessions at universities – with some pleasure – chilling out in the local terrain. So, beaches and sunsets:

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

While there, I also get to reacquaint myself with Aboriginal art, which fascinates me – indeed, as does their whole culture:

 

 

   

 

 

 

On to Adelaide and another favourite place. I am greeted by the ‘cheese festival’  -quite something – and my host Justin. Here, I have a seminar, a masterclass and a public lecture. The last is a discussion of the 1960s and The Beatles. A great crowd turn up, including one who went to school with Brian Epstein. LOTS of post lecture discussion. Later a trip to the Adelaide beach as the weather hits – HOT. Also, more Aboriginal art, included some contemporary artists:

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio Player

 

 

 

I also pose next to the only other place in the world that has Grenfell Street:

 

 

A one-string fiddle I play in the Centre of Creative/ Performance Arts:

 

 

Flight to Melbourne:

 

 

Not one of my favourite cities – despite its heavy cultural involvement. Maybe it is just too English for me – well, the weather is. It is very cosmopolitan, but then lively for that. For example, the only place where I have come across premises of the Theological Society (who incidentally hold Georgina Houghton’s work):

 

 

   

 

 

 

Again, Lecture, Masterclass, and individual student tutorials:

 

 

Soon, I am leapfrogging from Melbourne to Santiago to Salta. Happy to be back again in the Samsi Yoga/ Tai Chi Centre in Salta and to be with my host Vijaya:

 

 

   

 

 

 

We are on for another MeM Course: https://musicaenmovimiento.com

 

 

 

We are about 18 and run a Performance/ Intro and Active Listening course in a nearby retreat centre:

 

 

 

Quite a stunning environment marked by spectacular scenary. The local trees are extremely tall. Also, despite being in a convent/ monastery, some have managed to develop distinctive Sheela Na Gig  characteristics:

 

 

   

 

 

Also, the sound of the Cojoyo – a kind of moth which attracts its mate by rubbing its wings together. We had this first in the morning and later in the evening. They begin and then build to a cacophony until pretty much stopping:

 

 

 

 

Audio Player

 

 

 

Later a performance at Samsi. Here, a clip from the sound check – playing Fallen Angel by King Crimson: https://www.instagram.com/p/B5gNnToJb5-/

 

 

 

The plan was for me to return to Chile to do more lectures, but the demonstrations there made this practically difficult. Therefore, instead, I went back top Patagonia – Bariloche. In typical Patagonian style the weather here was cold and windy. In fact, we reached 4 degrees one day – this allowed me to state that on this trip, I had gone from 4 to 40 and everything in between.

 

 

 

Again spectacular scenary:

 

 

   

 

I get to see a Green Lake – because of sediment deposit and the motorbike that Che Guevara rode on an epic bile ride from Argentina up through South America to Venezuela:

 

 

   

 

 

A 1600 year old tree and spectacular waterfalls:

 

 

 

 

 

Also, a ‘black glacier’:

 

 

 

 

 

After six weeks, time to return to the UK – again a dramatic drop in temperature.

 

 

 

Reading and listening. Again lots happening and lots of words and sounds. But to note are, first the short stories of Jorge Luis Borges, with its elements of magical realism and post modernist themes of time and place:

 

 

 

 

 

Also, of course, the posthumous CD of Leonard Cohen. More a recital of poems than a set of songs – similar to the Dear Heather CD –  but telling in its insight into himself, love and life:

 

 

No one to follow
And nothing to teach
Except that the goal
Falls short of the reach

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September saw us tip into autumn and the days now are frequently grey and rainy. Equinox on the 23^rd this year saw the equal balance between light and dark, but now the darkness grows.

 

Sunny days too, though, in between and so-called ‘spring’ tides at this time of year, which means that they are higher and lower than is the norm.

 

 

I spent this time down in Cornwall.

 

Penzance:

 

 

 

 

Zennor:

 

 

 

Mousehole:

 

 

 

Gwithian Towans:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Same place by day:

 

 

                        

 

 

Whilst there, it was a pleasure to go to a concert of the Marazion Apollo Male Voice Choir. Such choirs are traditional down that way:

 

 

 

 

In my home village of Mousehole, they unveiled a plaque for Grenfell Street:

 

 

 

 

To be honest, I never heard it called that as a boy – no one ever seems to have referred to it in that way. But, now, it has an obvious association with ‘the tower’ and I believe there are efforts to connect the two. Still, funny to see….

 

 

 

In my own garden, it is harvest time: I am drowning in Apples!!!

 

 

 

 

For some odd reason, the first edition of my book Pierre Bourdieu: Key Concepts seems to have been doing the rounds on the web:

 

 

 

http://www.michaelgrenfell.co.uk/pierre-bourdieu-key-concepts-2nd-edition-full-text/

 

 

 

LOTS of art this month.

 

 

 

Firstly, London, and the Royal Academy:

 

 

 

 

Felix Vallotton. A most peculiar artist. Born Swiss, he later moved to Paris and became a Nabis. Despite radical views he married into a rich bourgeois family. The outcomes were not happy and successful for him. He ended up painting these strange Hopper-like pictures where the figures in them seem to be disconnected from each other. Quite eerie!

 

 

 

 

Helene Schjerfbeck was no less strange. Coming from Finland and spending much of her life cooped up with her mother in a small apartment. Nevertheless, some fine paintings – she really was a pioneer of form and representation.

 

 

 

Then there are her self-portraits. She executed several across the years of her long life – she lived to 86. Yet these are quite disturbing, and the life seems to bleach her away. In the end, there seems nothing left of her in the painting – as she must have felt in real life. So, a meditation on aging.

 

 

             

 

 

             

 

 

 

 

Something altogether different from the Nigerian artist Otobong Nkanga at the Tate St Ives. A different aesthetic here with the focus on environment – how it changes and the place of people in that process:

 

 

 

 

My CD of the month is Sattva 0101 that a student of mine brought back from Mexico for me. This is really high-up modern jazz fusion in the style of Hermeto Pasquale. Very nice.

 

 

 

 

Reading quite a lot this month. Including the collection of essays, poems, articles, etc. from Lindsay Clarke:

 

 

 

 

His The Chymical Wedding was pivotal for me at one point when I was grappling with the connections between my life and alchemy.

 

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/lindsay-clarke-2/the-chymical-wedding/

 

 

 

On a related theme, the new William Blake exhibition opened at the Tate, Britain. More on that in a future post. Here is something to whet the appetite:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

August seemed to fly by at great speed.

 

Unusually for me, I had some visitors and this enabled us to get out and explore some of the beautiful English countryside in Dorset: Abbotsbury and Knowlton Rings:

 

 

   

 

 

Knowlton Rings is an ancient earthwork – about 4000 years old and in the tradition of Stonehenge. It is also on various important Ley lines. As can be seen – a Church was built in the middle of it: this was a common practice to Christianise pagan and Druid sites. One might conclude that it did not succeed in this case!!!

 

Weather so-so but generally good.

 

I then went on what I call a ‘retreat’: this because I switch off all connections: mobile phones, social media, computer, everything. Of course, there is a pile of ‘stuff’ waiting for me upon my return but I am finding it increasingly necessary to disconnect – to regain some of my privacy. This time I went for 2 weeks which was the most substantial time I have managed so far. Certainly time to just be in the present time and place rather than dodging all over the world and in different time zones.

 

I also got to see Satyananda. Always special for me to catch up with him and attend one of his Satsangs. Anyone who has read my dialogues with him will know what a profound effect encountering his spiritual tradition had on me:

 

http://www.michaelgrenfell.co.uk/esoteric/

 

Book and CD of the month both mean a lot to me.

 

Firstly, the particular short story by Thomas Mann: Mario and the Magician. Mann wrote it in 1929 as an allegory of the rise of fascism in Germany and, sadly, it is still relevant today to the case of Brexit Britain. It tells the story of how a magician comes and intoxicates his audience with his tricks, attitudes and lies. It is really about power and education and ignorance – for personal gain. The story ends in bloodshed and my sense is there will be blood spilt on the streets of the UK before we resolve the present crisis. As another story – Albert Camus’ The Plague (La Peste), it never really goes away: the ‘bacillus’ just goes underground waiting for the right conditions to break out again.

 

 

 

The CD is a recording of the performance given by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan at the WOMAD festival in 1985. That is over 30 years ago and I was there. I remember it was on Mersea Island near Colchester in Essex and was one of the first of these festivals for me to attend. He went on around midnight and stunned the audience with his intense Qawwali singing – a kind of Sufi praise music of ecstasy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nusrat_Fateh_Ali_Khan

 

 

 

Quite frankly, we had never seen anything like it. He went on to performance and other WOMADs and in the concert hall, but nothing for me matches the impact of this first encounter. Now, with the aid of modern technology they have been able to produce a good rendition of the concert which, after all, was recorded with just 8 analogue microphones.

 

He also collaborated with various other musicians; at one time Massive Attack reworked some of his recordings. Also Peter Gabriel: most noticeably in the Passion piece for the soundtrack to the film The Last Temptation of Christ:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7tWUuJyyak

 

Other sources:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_–_Sources

These pieces and others from these traditions were incredibly influential and moved me deeply over the years.

 

Nusrat here:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSMIDIt2Ku4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summer advancing on all fronts. Weather not so good which….is not good! I hear my first owl when out walking and then see a spider in my house. (Very) early signs of autumn.

 

 

Some quite grey days and, then when it is hot, it is very hot.

 

 

Harvesting happening all around me. Very near me is where an English meadow is prepared for making hay and returning wild flower seeds to the ground.

 

 

We also have an eclipse of the Moon – this is where the earth gets in between the sun and the moon and so projects a shadow onto it. For once, it is a clear night and so very visible for a few hours. Up to 60% coverage.

 

   

 

 

 

Otherwise, it is often very thundery – like this spectacular lightening storm one night:

 

 

 

 

Per chance, I find myself in Castlerigg stone circle. I highly significant place for me, and I have not been there for a while:

 

 

 

 

Apparently, it is approximately 4000 years old – it is certainly in a very prominent position. Despite there being around 1300 such circles in Great Britain and Brittany, no one seems to know who built them and why!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlerigg_stone_circle

 

I also get to Studland in Dorset to examine the rock colours and formations – a fascinating place.

 

 

 

 

Also, once the home of one of the Powys Brothers who interest me so much; namely, T F Powys:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._F._Powys

But, that is a different story….

 

Art going takes in some remarkable work. Firstly, that of Frank Bowling – someone who has – until this retrospective – been overlooked in England for too long. Of course, it does not help that he has spent so much time in USA but, really, his large abstract painting are stunning:

 

              

 

 

                  

 

 

 

The Duveen Galleries at the Tate were taken up with ‘Asset Strippers’ by Mike Nelson – really a collection of once used and now obsolete industrial machinery. Some of it I recognized, and it was a meditation on ingenuity and its fading in the light of progress – and thus mixed up with time, death and the beauty they now hold – in themselves:

 

 

 

The magnificent Cindy Sherman at the National Portrait Gallery with her incredible set-ups. It is amazing all of which she can convey simply by dressing up in period or site specific costume and presenting herself as at one with it:

 

 

 

 

Academically, I do an excellent conference – Ekphrasis – Inspired by Art– with a student/ colleague of mine (Lisa Koning). We focus on two feminine, surrealist painters: Ithell Colquhoun and Dorothea Tanning:

 

   

 

 

 

My piece on IC is here:

https://www.academia.edu/36130049/Bourdieu_and_Art_Painting_-_De-authorising_Narratives_The_Case_of_Ithell_Colquhoun_Part_I

 

Whilst speaking about academic matters, here is an IntroductionI did on Bourdieu – with subtitles in Spanish:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvtrQvn3Xi0

 

I learn of the strange story of a possible ancestor:

 

 

Obviously, married life was not good for him and, when she left for another, he decided to take out an add stating he was was not liable for her actions/ debts.

 

Later in the month, I travel to Norway for a wedding on a farm. Surprisingly, the temperature is in the 30s – but a good time is had by all on the side of the Trondheim Fiord:

 

   

 

 

 

Of course, that far north is a very long day: it is hardly dark by midnight and is getting light again by 03.00 – so, about two hours of darkness. The actual sun sets at 22.30 and rises again around 04.00.

Of course, the opposite applies in the Winter! Still, a magical part of the world.

 

CD of the month – what else??!!

 

 

 

Interestingly, the actual CD has a rare use of the Duodecad, an integral part of Bennett’s Systematics:

  

 

 

 

 

https://www.systematics.org/systematics_Introduction

 

 

 

My Book of the Month is the summer read of Andrew Miller, Now we shall be Entirely Free:

 

 

 

 

Quite a story this, taking in a returning soldier from the war with Napoleon in Spain in the C19 and his recovery which involves a trip to the Scottish islands and the encounter there with a ‘new age’ community of the day. He is pursued by a couple of others who seek revenge but really are looking to cover their own misdemeanors as soldiers. There is also romance and excursions into the ways of life of the day, ashore and at sea as well, and the personalities that surround the times – including advances in modern medicine. As a say, quite a read with a suitable climatic ending!!.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June was a not very nice month weather wise: grey skies and rain on most days. This is worrying given the fact that we also had the summer solstice. We are moving towards winter again now. Time to plan my next trip to the sun!!

 

A friend visited and it literally poured down every day. The ‘seaside’ at Chesil Beach in Dorset gives an idea. Look at those clouds! Nevertheless, time for an ephemeral sculpture:

 

 

   

 

 

 

Another trip to Chichester in Sussex had us running out of the rain to the glorious cathedral. An English country garden but, again, look at the sky!

 

 

       

 

While there, we visited the Pallant House Gallery which specializes in English art. This little miniature reproduction of some examples – rather nice:

 

 

     

 

 

The big event of the month was the King Crimson Anniversary Concert at the Albert Hall in London:

 

 

     

 

 

 

I went as a Four Quarter Maintainer, which was good work (http://www.gurdjiefflegacy.org/40articles/theredeemedbeelzebub.htm). A pre-show ‘Royal package’ had people present from across the world (see report below).

 

 

 

 

Spectacular scenes in the auditorium (including a famous face – well, famous for us!!):

 

 

 

 

 

Going from one extreme to another, I went to see the Puppini Sisters in a town near here.

 

 

 

 

Very much retro since the venue was an old type of cinema you get in England. Lovely ‘biz’ type stage and internal décor:

 

 

       

 

 

 

 

The Puppini Sisters camp it up with glamorous costumes and routine. Behind it all, however, is tight musical harmony based on the Andrew Sisters style of the 1940s +. A great show.

 

I also gave an Introductory lecture on Reflexivity for the H3 University. Quite something to have a Zoom link up with people from across the globe: New Zealand, Canada, Europe, Americas. Recording here:

 

 

 

https://vimeo.com/343310348

 

The password is: H3Unigrenfell

 

 

I had had a new book published of some of my conversations with Pierre Bourdieu:

 

 

 

It is published in Australia:

 

https://recentworkpress.com/product/encounters-1/?fbclid=IwAR383-arsKqdBQ6TiZqoa8pvvXAdrTjpiMi3lZdnzuhWAtbTno6g_XWxgGQ

 

An earlier version of the text can be found on this site:

 

http://www.michaelgrenfell.co.uk/bourdieu/encounters-i-pierre-bourdieu-and-michael-grenfell/

 

Two books of the month since they are somehow linked, and both French. Firstly, Didier Eribon’s semi-sociological reflection on his life and times. Which is very much in the epistemological tradition set by Pierre Bourdieu.

 

 

 

 

 

Then, a more explicit fiction from Laurent Gaude (Le Soleil des Scorta). but again describing a family across the generations from the 1870s to today – what touched, moved and affected them:

 

 

 

 

 

My CD is by Emma Smith – The Huntress. Some cool jazz singing here with fine accompaniment. What impressed me was that these are new pieces written by Emma herself with collaborators, but certainly in the tradition of the finest jazz songs.

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNEH7eymwNc

 

 

 

 

 

King Crimson: Four Quarter Maintainer Report

 

Wednesday 20^thJune 2019, Royal Albert Hall, London

 

Whilst travelling to the Albert Hall, I had two thoughts:

 

Firstly, when did FQM duties begin for me? We know that a beginning is invisible and certainly, in the past, I have been an FQM on my own. The present round, however, was when Captain Ferni suddenly wrote to me out of the blue prior to the Bournemouth shows in the UK last year.  Here, we were organised an ‘on’. Since then, the whole FQM movement has grown with a website, exercises, AAD-ers, and a large contributing team.

 

My second though was about FQM itself. I wondered if it is meant FOUR Quarter Maintainers, or Four QUARTER Maintainers FOUR-QUARTER Maintainers? I knew what I role was.

 

Well such ruminations were theoretical since when we arrived, we quickly grouped and were away – a team of six. We learnt that the Albert Hall did not allow us to stand and in fact had given us tickets – in a row – near the stage. Which seemed a bit strange…

 

We first attended the Royal Package meeting. This was well attended with several rows of royal packagers. It was clear that these were real aficionados: some coming from the USA and attending every night. The warmth and interest in all things KC was very evident. Robert spoke a little, there was then opportunities for mutual photography. David then brought everyone up to date before Gavin and Pat appeared for Q&A. Some good questions from where I was sitting – and good interesting answers.

 

We broke up and left the magnificent arena. There was then some intermingling and social interaction. Some people I knew, and some who I did not know but who seemed to know me.

 

We then encircled and formally began our FQM duties confirming our commitment to the exercise. . As I say, sitting in a row was a bit odd, so I gave myself the task of picturing myself standing in the far quarter looking at the stage; not that easy since the hall  was round.

 

Actually, I was sat in an ideal position in the line of the three drummers. Glance to my right and it was the band; to my left the hall, which was near full.

 

The show began in a way I recognized from before but soon, it was very clear that some pieces had been rearranged extensively. The sound was amazing: clear, balanced and not too loud. A standing ovation greeted the band and there were others during the show for pieces such as Epitaph.

 

The lights lit half of the arena and the audience were a good balance of the older and the younger. Some were obviously immediately into it, with nodding heads – really grooving.

 

For me, being so close to the band, the music appeared both very sure and fragile-like at the same time; sort of hanging there together.

 

The audience seemed well behaved photography wise. Only twice did I look into the audience and catch a tiny light of a mobile.

 

Mostly I managed to keep my attention on my FQM duties and the exercise. At one point point I lost it – in Discipline – and sort of gave myself to the music – nodding away with the rest. I caught the eye of Ferni in the row in front of me and he was grinning at me, nodding and grooving too. This kind of woke me up sol I was able to groove and stay alert.

 

Quite a show!!

 

 

 

 

 

Spring has sprung as they say, and good to see the seasonal flowers ‘springing up’ as it were.

 

Long, light days – I love them and then soft, mellow nights. Bird song everywhere where I live.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I take a trip down to my ancestral home in Cornwall – also looking at its best.

 

 

 

 

      

 

 

Whilst there, I join in a history project looking at modern – mining…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

– and prehistoric history; of the latter, some fine examples of a ‘chambered tomb’, Mullfra Quoit and Treseagal stone circle: all around 3 – 4000 years old:

 

 

 

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A useful reference point:

https://www.meynmamvro.co.uk

 

 

 

This month, I also saw quite a lot of art.

In London, the Spanish master of light: Jaoquin Sorollo (1863-1923):

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some lovely colourful washes here, and indeed light. Moreover, he was no doubt successful – selling huge amounts on the USA making him famously. I liked his work. Finally, however, he was somewhat caught ‘out of time’ – not quite an impressionist or a post-impressionist and, by the time he died, rather overtaken by Picasso and what would come next!!

 

Also, at the National in London, was an exhibition my Sean Scully, one of the Young British Artists coming from the 1990s (YBAs).

I wrote some studies of them: http://www.michaelgrenfell.co.uk/art/173-2/

 

This work was inspired from a Tuner painting of an Sea Star.Of course, his own extensions go way beyond the original piece.

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the Tate St. Ives Cornwall, an exhibition of the work of the Lebanese artist Huguette Caland (1931). Interesting pieces: a kind of mixture of Heron and Georgia O’Keefe. Her topic was ‘body parts, but these disguised amongst large surrealist forms:

 

 

 

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some wonderful contemporary art in Cornwall from Chloe Holt from Harrogate:

 

 

 

 

 

 

My reading this has pursued my Latin-American explorations. So, two books of the month: firstly, a history of South America and then an allegorical novel of the same – The Stone Raftby Jose Saramago:

 

 

      

 

 

 

My listening has been centred on another continent: Africa and the music of the Camaroon singer-guitarist Francis Bebey. He was around a lot in London when I was there in the 1980s. A beautiful guitar player and singer, he also specialized in Pygmy flute music. His recordings range from the most traditional to the more electronic / way out.

 

 

 

Amazing. I spoke to him on various occasions – in park concerts on the lawn. He was very friendly and so well versed in literature and philosophy. A fascinating man. Sadly, he died in 2001: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bebey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Much of April was spent on various activities in South America. Therefore, report and photos here seem to be a bit of a travelogue. However, the general thrust of things will be clear.

 

 

 

Before leaving I was guest at the press day that Robert Fripp gave in London:

 

 

 

 

 

A rich and full day of address and questions: really, to acknowledge the 50^thanniversary of the formation of King Crimson. Many special anecdotes, comments, observations – many of which will go into my ongoing writing on the same. I have already produced a lengthy piece on King Crimson I/ 1969 which appeared on the DGM page:

 

 

 

https://www.dgmlive.com/in-depth/DoctorMikeKC69

 

 

 

Also, a shorter essay to be found here:

 

 

http://www.michaelgrenfell.co.uk/music-n/king-crimson-i-1969-50th-anniversary-essay-2019/

 

 

Then, quickly flights to south America. Time to catch up with my favourite cat – Hiro.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have a Musica en Moviemientocourse, with some 20+ participants including 17 players. Really good to see this initiative now taking off with its own momentum. Many more events planned for the forthcoming months including another performance project I shall be attending in November.

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

More socializing and catching up with friends and acquaintances. Fooling around with a Phone app with Lucho:

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

What will they think of doing next?

 

 

 

 

I take a trip down to Patagonia. Spectacular vistas of glaciers and mountain scenery in the vicinity of Calafate:

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

I then travel on to Santiago, Chile, where I give a lecture on King Crimson I / 1969 at the university there. A good crowd in the audience  and a great team to interpret for me

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazing in-depth level of knowledge over KC history here – and great excitement for forthcoming shows. My Powerpoint lecture is here – minus the audio files:

 

 

 

http://www.michaelgrenfell.co.uk/music-n/in-the-court-of-king-crimson-i-with-bourdieu-santiago-2019/

 

 

After the show I get to enjoy Peruvian food and their version of Pisco sour:

 

 

 

    

 

 

I am then treated to a few days on the Pacific Ocean. Great treat with spectacular sunsets. Also, incredible beaches and wild life:

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being in Argentina and Chile, my listening/ reading has been influenced by this. So, my book of the month is People in the Roomby Norah Lange. It first appeared in the 1950s and is by the Argentinian writer Lange who somewhat pre-dated nouveau romanwith its focus on the narrator and the stories she invents after spying on three women across the street; therefore, disclosing her own relationship to life, dying and relationships. As she concludes, ‘As long as they’re here. Nothing will happen’, before realizing that the ‘only thing to have happened was my fear’. So, partly a story of overcoming fear and how.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My CD of the month is Frecuencia Lex– Chilean electronic pop. Lovely driving beats around infectious sound tonalities and melodies!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring has crept in a little further in this part of the world: so, some lovely days and spring flowers. Trips to the countryside. However, as I write, it is pouring with rain, cold and with intermittent sleet. It must be the UK!

 

 

    

 

 

 

Whilst dwelling on pastoral matters, a FB friend posted this rather charming photo of Mousehole – my families home village – and I cannot resist sharing it here. This dear little house is now a gift shop and has been for a long while – just two doors down from the family home. I guess this would be in the 1930s.

 

 

 

 

 

Some focus on music this month.

 

 

Firstly, I went to see a Roy Harper gig in the splendid context of the London Palladium. It was a real London show with rock celebrities rubbing shoulder to shoulder with the general public. Roy was on form with a backing group – including strings. Apparently, a ‘farewell tour’ if not ‘farewell gig’ – well, advancing years define their own logic.

 

 

 

 

I saw Roy many times in Bristol in the early 70s. A troubadour character rather than a singer songwriter (although that as well). Often, he spoke as much as he played and could certainly tell a story. It was all very dangerous in those days. Now rather more of pathos of ‘what happened next!’. Of course, he ended with ‘When an Old Cricketeer leaves the Crease’  – that peon to Englishness, mortality, and the mystique of a game of life:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY0N8ApcUMc

 

 

Secondly, I have been writing about King Crimson and Robert Fripp – especially with respect to business and management matters. Quite interesting and shocking. In the 1950s, it was not uncommon for a manager to simply ‘employ’ a musician and pay them a wage. In the 1960s, and with the rise of The Beatles, this gave way to percentage deals with small-scale business men; often with quite a bit of both exploitation and mistakes committed. By the late 60s and into the 70s, the ‘rock star’ manager arrived: who shared in the Rock and Rock life style. In the opposite direction, some musicians became business men. The fact that they often made not a very good job of this resulted in the rise of the ‘accountant manager’. This happened with the original company that managed King Crimson and others. So, began the practice of setting up multiple accounts: and borrowing from one to finance another. This resulted in the non payment of royalties because the management company were in debt; but in debt because of monies lent to another company – that the manager also owned, and paid themselves handsome dividends from. As they say, the day the ‘bean counters’ took over in a way which was soon to affect the rest of the economy. Anyway, an iconic doorway in the Kings Road – home of EG:

 

 

 

 

 

Thirdly, John Beresford reminds me that it was Mothering Sunday fifty years ago that we both heard a Sunday broadcast by the then up and coming folk singer Ralph McTell. This was the first time we heard such songs asStreets of London, Daddy’s Here, and Mrs Adlam’s Angels. Obviously, we were both somewhat taken by these, and it led to a life-long attachment to this man and his music/ work.

John manages the Ralph McTell fan page on the web.

 

 

http://www.ralph-mctell.co.uk

 

 

I went on to write a book about Ralph:

 

 

 

 

http://www.pomera.co.uk/books/parallel_lives_second_edition/

 

 

John and I finally met when he came south to interview me about the book:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_p9OtekKUE&feature=youtu.be

 

 

Finally, I do not normally go in for obituraries, but could not not mention sadness at hearing of the passing of Scott Walker. Originally, ‘just’ another crooner, he went on to turn an essentially conservative art form into something more than avant-garde. However, I still love the originals as well: this one his version of a remarkable Neil Diamond song:

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWoHBUc4rQI

 

 

 

Up in London for the Anti-Brexit march.

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

This is England 2019. When I first came to London in the 80s it was possible to walk down Downing Street – home of the Prime Minister – and have one’s photo taken in front of No 10. Now it is barred off and with heavily armed policemen. Progress??!!

 

 

 

 

 

A remarkable exhibition in the Tate Modern of the surrealist painter Dorothea Tanning:

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

Very lively and thought provoking. She certainly did not stand still and, later in life diversified into sculpture, novels and poetry and indeed broader painting. Quite interesting to set her next to my group of female surrealists: Agar, Carrington, Af Klimt, Houghton and, of course, Colquhoun.

 

 

 

 

My book/ CD of the month both seem to deal with Landscape. First, some Estonian music:

 

 

 

 

 

And then the classic by Barry Lopez: Arctic Dreams. By the technique of simply describing the lives of living creatures found there – polar bears, whales, oxen –  some of them of teutonic strength, he manages with great pathos to highlight their innocence and vulnerability, all whilst identifying the complexity and sophistication – as well as danger – their lives entail. It is a level of life that men are constantly eroding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even though the context is very different, I share with Lopez the sense of the Arctic Landscape and its creatures taking you into it on its own terms. The poetry resides simple in the awareness and recognition of its ways of life. One can never really know a landscape – no matter how many times one crosses it – and it is one where living creatures kill and are killed to maintain life; but never, as with man, simply for the sport. Life in such landscape is always the same and always changing.

 

 

February, they often say, is a wicked month. Not quite so this year – generally, it was agreed that as these things go it was quite gentle. Of course, there is a sinister side to this with global warming and climate change. Certainly, in my part of the world, it iswarmer. I live in the country and have a coal fire for the coldest days; except that I have not had to use it either last year or this. Another feature of this recent phenomenon is that weather appears in various extremes: such is the case:

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

But, the days are lengthening now. My catching up from being away is now overlapping with my preparations for being away again. Still, have been involved in various projects. One has been reconnecting a little with the work of J G Bennett. I read all the books before, so it is always a good idea to re-read them with distance; certainly, sometimes there are new insights. Such was the case with the book ‘Making a Soul’which actually ends up with JGB describing what happens after death. The question of whether it is true or not is slightly eclipsed with his ambition for having a go. Then on to Hazard:

 

 

 

 

 

 

JGB wrote a lot and of varying levels – indeed quality. There are some aspects that I would stand by as helpful; others that seem rather confused, or just out of date. Occasionally, there is the sense that he had to lecture and needed a topic. There is a touch about this with the Hazardlectures.  Of course, Bennett has to systematize everything, tidying it up into one grand theory – which is debatable. And, Hazard is obviously related to accident, the arbitrary, chance, luck and the pre-ordained – not to mention time, will, creativity, choice, freedom – hyparxis. But, the first lecture in the books floats around somewhat without him pinning it: of course it is important but why? and how? He has a go at answering these questions.

This work is part of my re-engagement with Fourth Way work (see note in January 2019).

 

 

 

Some good art exhibitions in London at the moment. I missed a few after being away. But, the Bonnard is very good. Actually, the reviews have been a little critical – not of the exhibition but of the artist himself. They find him insular, petty, repetitive. But, surely that is the whole point: his commitment to seeing beyond the domestic, a bit like the Degas portraits. There is a repetition and yes sometimes he seems to lose interest. But, it would be hard to not be seduced by the intensity of his coloration:

 

 

 

    

 

 

Music and book wise, this month I have had a bit of an Irish renaissance. Firstly, my CD of the month is Brenda Malloy: Irish and Renaissance Harps.

 

 

 

 

 

Despite the somewhat twee cover, the solo harp playing on this CD is first rate and offers pretty much what it says – pieces from Ireland along with England, Scotland, Italy and Spain. I love her playing as it seems to have both depth and texture. I certainly prefer it to the classical stylization of Derek Bell, or the contemporary vibe of Alain Stivell – not that these are no also very listenable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I first came across Brenda when she was playing on the pavement in front of Trinity College, Dublin when I worked there. Surprisingly, it is not always easy to find the best Irish music in the pubs of Dublin – Temple Bar can be a bit thrash and shout. However, sometimes it is better just to wander around the streets to find musicians of Brenda’s calibre playing flute, whistle, harp and concertina.

 

 

My Irish theme has also extended to the book I have been reading: Anne Griffin – When All is Said.The scenario is an elderly man in a pub just prior to going into a care home. He makes five toasts to five different characters and has a story about them to describe the importance of each individual in his life. The backdrop is the pub itself and this is wonderfully evoked: he also gives times and what he is drinking. In between, is the very best of Irish prose to picture Irish life – mammys, wives and families, weddings and funerals. So, lively! She also uses the ingenious device of an English florin lost/ found/ stolen and the impact it had on those around the man and his life to link the stories. Reflections on love, and where it was not expressed and should have been. As the main character states it, ‘There was a love, but of the Irish kind, reserved and embarrassed by its own humanity.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anne Griffin’s is a first novel. She used to work in Waterstones in Dublin and I remember her from there. Just shows that it is possible to ‘make it’ from humble positions. The exegesis of the novel, reading between the lines of the acknowledgements, is also an excellent case of the fermentation and bringing into being of creativity.