What makes a good, great dance on film? Thought of Fred Astaire and tried to think what it was about him that made him LOOK and FEEL so damn good. Not ‘cute’ look good, but this effortless movement. What does he tend to do? Yeah – he dances but what more than that? He GLIDES – it’s his physical presence that makes you melt. When I first saw ‘Top Hat’ I was 13 or 14, and I knew I’d found an ideal romantic state in my head. I feel that I can die a happy man, for seeing the glorious early 30’s vision of how love should be, ideally, in your mind. And it’s always been an overwhelming desire to love someone and feel just like that – you know? ‘This is it’ sorta thing.
I think I invented something – a cheap version of a steadicam for video cams and Super 8 – using PVC pipe and/or aluminium. Drew it out at a restaurant. I tend to dislike handheld cameras, mostly because if you don’t have it on a tripod, there’s way too much movement and it looks like shit.
Wish I’d copywrited the name Super 8 when I thought of it back in 1987. Bruce La Bruce made a film with that title and I thought it sucked. I love the title though.
A quote by French writer Paul Vatery, ‘Seeing is when you forget that name of what you are looking at.’ This quote is so important to me because it reflects my obsession with creating things which are all about transformations. Also, Reinhardt was obsessed with the idea of ‘passive seeing’ – he was about making the viewer a vital part of the creative process, as it’s the viewer who has to use his eyes and senses to bring the work to light, so to speak. When you see a whole other world open up in front of you, it’s such a magical experience.
The Surrealists said early on that one of their jobs was to elevate the everyday and normal to the marvellous. I try to do it as much as I can and I can honestly say that little things bring me so much intense joy. Makes me feel like what Cage said, ‘Everyone’s in the best seat’. The point of life is to make it where it feels like that all the time. Tres Zen too, I guess.
I love staring down at the pavement or at colours. Or guys. Or a guy’s shirt, arse. Carpet. All great stuff to me. I’ve wondered lately about doing a painting based on a close-up of albums on a shelf. And scale it to where you’re barely able to read the spines.
I had this idea – of taking photos and/or writing down guys I see that I’m attracted to, to see what – if any – meaning it all has – if shit adds up. Dunno. Sounds fairly tedious though.
Chad Witt – ‘The Conceptual Pornographer’!!
Why not do art for pets?! I like the idea most of all because of course it has snob appeal, and that makes it ironic and funny. Do different series of Multiples, one for each toy, sign and number them…would they sell? And in the ultimate Dada logic, pets need art too, right?! And if it’s functional art, all the better.
For a long time I’ve wanted to use rat traps in something. Make a functional rat trap from the point of view of having the trap belong to your cat. A Multiple! Put some felt or other fabric over the trap, set it and call it Shroud.
For me, writing is best when I’m able to almost completely shut myself off and nothing comes from my conscious mind. And that’s why for so many years I stopped doing it.
I think I’ve invented a new way of writing. It involves high concentration of thought and allows the reader to fill in the blanks – like completing a picture, but all the work is mental gymnastics. I’ve been struck by the fact that most people, including me, if they REALLY want to communicate something, they’ll go on and on. It’s like trying to describe something to someone. You can do it all you like, but mostly they wont get it. But if you provide them with a shorthand of sorts, they fill in the blanks. And then they can discover it for themselves. It forces the mind to get more involved in the process - and hopefully that’s a good thing.
Sometimes I like writing a lot. Words really flow sometimes. |
