Brian Eno and John Hassell "conversation"
Happy Easter Voxers,
I went to see Brian Eno and John Vassell last night "continue a thirty year dialogue". Both of them are very skilled at making things sound incredibly deep and insightful... from drawing a line with surrender and control at different ends, to reading out the legal definition of buttocks.
Rewind.
So there they are, the producer extraordinaire and the trumpeter with the inimitable style... Brian had an OHP, John a Mac... behind them everything was projected onto two big screens (Brian's noticeably bigger than John's I should add). Surrounded by paper all over the floor. It was like we had been invited round to the most pretentious dinner party of all time!
But for all the intellectual swagger and style, they turned out to be frightfully good company... And they presented a confident style with which you can talk about these things yourself without fear of being laughed at (like the rest of us often are!). They embodied their discussions and never once questioned their own understanding of the world... so what did they talk about:
- the book the Argument Culture
- how the diameter of the media delivery pipeline affects the depth of the message (think ITV/lowest common denominator)
- a recurring theme: how words are constantly being used to mean different things, concepts are bound by words, "building a fence around the indescribable" was a lovely phrase John used
- they argued that our feelings are so bound by words that whenever you question how you feel, you should try and remove the bondage of words altogether before making your decision. The word sick or ill being a good example... you move towards your own concept of sick or ill, "eliminate the words to reveal how you feel", "the resolution of thought by non-evaluation"
- on the topic of wordism, how you can create something that doesn't exist just by naming it
- how propagenda has replaced propaganda - now its far more unsettling subtle introduction of agendas to stimulate discussion and get it heading in a particular direction
- how early memories exist without vocabulary so hence are not encoded
- how much joy there is in going to a non-verbal place: the four methods described were Art, Religion, Sex and Drugs
- how people with fetish/experimental sexual taste are saints of a new religion, latex being an "all over embrace"
- onto how people live their lives, and the directions they take. Brian described life as pushing the boat from the mooring to get started, but too many people think they have to complete the journey to where they think they need to go. even if the tide is in another direction. he had a diagram in his journal from 1981 showing how the tide eventually takes you where you need to go if you recognize it - a fan later asked him if it was his original pad... it was
- why are love and hate always considered as being polar opposites... that there is a linear line with each at either end... its so much more dynamic and complex
- wall street
- art and currency
- real and abstract
- operative platforms
- "What is it that I really like?"
- yada yada yada...
And then it was time for questions preceded with Brian saying "I hate asking for questions because they are always so stupid". Alas no one asked him what size his shoes are! And then when the questioners were asking their questions Brian gave the microphone holders a public bollocking about why they weren't getting to the people quick enough.
Brian's answers to the questions reminded me of my own way of dealing with questions... breaking them down... "do I believe in free will?"... mmm so what is free? always looking for the thought at the end of the rainbow, at the bottom of it all.
So I left, and had a chat to a couple of guys outside, who turned out to be a couple. They were intellectuals and had found it all a bit overblown. Overblown yes, but what I took away was two people who believed in their own world-view and were happy to invite strangers (albeit grudgingly) to continue their thirty year dialogue. And that is certainly we can all learn from... the next time people think you're mad for what you're saying remember... maybe you are plain just better than them.
Love Duncan
