Critical Perspectives

I bought all the papers at Heathrow off the plane from Marrakesh, and happened to read three pieces on the Rothko show in the Taxi home: two reviews and Louise Jury's piece in the Evening Standard 'Rothkos reunited at Tate' (a news item, not a review). The Evening Standard piece was fine and dandy but the reviews, as is often the case when a blockbuster trundles into town, were interesting for their very different standpoints.

Rachel Campbell-Johnson's piece in The Times, 'The Doorways of Darkness', was balanced and fresh and spoke about Rothko with sensitivity. The review was not afraid to acknowledge the difficulty of the work and dealt with any potential concerns that the viewer may have that such non-representational work is a huge joke and there may be sniggers at the back of the class if you don't 'get it'. The review didn't shy away from the work's overwhelming religiosity, further reason why people find Rothko so very heavy, but crucially the piece ENCOURAGED the reader to go and see the show. It also provided an intelligent realistic framework within which to consider the work, and this, I believe, is ultimately the critic's role. A good critic can also deal common prejudices a mighty blow: I think it was Brian Sewell who once said he wrote for both the artistic connoissieur AND the man on the Clapham omnibus, which when you think about it is actually a bloody good summing-up as well as a difficult task.

By contrast, in The Independent, a now dreary paper, Tom Lubbock likened the affective powers of Rothko's visual language to the 'the hook' of a pop song, even quoting 'Lady in R-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-d' and 'I can't L-I-I-I-I-VE' to illustrate his point, encouraging the viewer to see Rothko's artistic force as being as gimmick-filled as the average 3-minute top-10 hit. He even called the paintings 'big tragic riffs'.

Contrast Lubbock's last sentence:- 'But by all means go along to the Rothko show and be moved, it's just a pity you can't buy the LP', with Rachel's:- 'And what if you feel nothing in front of his canvases? Well, that's not nothing because to feel nothing is one of the strongest feelings you can have'. I think that simple comparison speaks volumes. My overriding feeling is that where The Times provided what I would like to describe as 'a key to assist', The Independent was being glib, leaving the viewer and/or readers short changed.

Here Comes That Day...

No posts for a while as I've been on hols... communing with the local mysteries in Tangier. So there.

Brilliant, breaking news.... Cherry Red are releasing the Into a Circle back catalogue on CD for the first time. I've written something for the sleeve notes - Alex from the record company tells me they've got 'a fan, a critic and an artist' (i.e. me) providing reflections and memories.

I cannot stress this enough but In2aO were utterly sublime and absolutely the most formative thing in the world of teen-Stephen. I always thought it criminal they were never bigger than they were. Here's my text for the CD; if you've never heard of them I strongly recommend you get the compiliation when it's out. I'll post a link for it in November!

"Into a Circle's songs were and are dreamlike, sexy, and dangerous. They inhabit a strange sound-world of alternative religions, sexual experiments and bare-chested boy assassins. When I close my eyes I imagine them echoing through an other-worldly landscape as endless as one of Brion Gysin's Sahara paintings... I love these songs and in recent times I have been listening to them again and playing them whenever I get a chance to DJ.

"One of the interesting things about Into a Circle, aside from a fantastic image, was that the band surrounded themselves with the cultural and literary influences behind the songs. Bee's graphics and art-work referenced Hans Bellmer and William Burroughs, and the sleeve-notes always listed enough counter-cultural pointers to keep the library card of a provincial teen busy for weeks in those pre-internet days. All of this strengthened the songs and made Into a Circle a more complete and intelligent outfit than a good many bands who were around at the time. It is only now, some 20-years later and thinking about my development as a practising artist, I realise quite how formative the world of Into a Circle was for me. I can draw a number of lines of influence of those artists and writers who have affected my own work, or the way I carry out my work, back to Bee. I therefore find myself wondering how my work as an artist might have happened, and what art and books I would love and admire, were it not for Into a Circle."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_A_Circle
Bee's now in Bangkok doing Futon:- www.rehabisfab.com