David Jones, artist and poet (1895-1974) begins his PREFACE TO THE ANATHEMATA :

'I have made a heap of all that I could find.' (1) So wrote Nennius, or whoever composed the introductory matter to Historia Brittonum. He speaks of an 'inward wound' which was caused by the fear that certain things dear to him 'should be like smoke dissipated'. Further, he says, 'not trusting my own learning, which is none at all, but partly from writings and monuments of the ancient inhabitants of Britain, partly from the annals of the Romans and the chronicles of the sacred fathers, Isidore, Hieronymous, Prosper, Eusebius and from the histories of the Scots and Saxons although our enemies . . . I have lispingly put together this . . . about past transactions, that [this material] might not be trodden under foot'. (2)

(1) The actual words are coacervavi omne quod inveni, and occur in Prologue 2 to the Historia.
(2) Quoted from the translation of Prologue 1. See The Works of Gildas and Nennius, J.A.Giles, London 1841.


15 December 2008

Ben Vautier, POUR GEORGE BRECHT

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The witsom wisdom of Ben Vautier is held in high regard at bLOGOS/HA HA

Looking at the words and images that rim the window here, there's a 1985 postcard by Ben : no more Art



His contribution to Rene Block's 1990 Sydney Biennale (The Readymade Boomerang) print folio, Am I or is Australia Far Away? is another local favourite.



Shortly after the announcement of the name of the next Sydney Biennale director, David Elliot, the Sydney Morning Herald published an article headed Biennale director sees potential of 2010, even from afar from which this extract
In it, in relation to the proposed exhibition title and theme, The Beauty Of Distance: Songs Of Survival In A Precarious Age, you are quoted as saying: "The idea of distance covers two ideas," he says. "Firstly, Australia is a long way away from anywhere else, but it's more about what art is and how art works … Art runs parallel to life.
bLOGOS/HA HA emailed the new director and referred him to_ Am I is Australia far away?

So, it was a pleasure a few days ago to receive the following forwarded newsletter (thanks Mal) from Ben Vautier honouring his recently departed Fluxus friend George Brecht.

POUR GEORGE BRECHT

2008-12-09
George Brecht
(August 27, 1926. - December 5, 2008

Hello Fluxus friends
This is a small newsletter
concerning George Brecht
who just left us
George Brecht is the artist
in the world who's attitude towards art
got me thinking
and changed my mind
in other words influenced me the most.
at the time in 1962
I was interested in " the limits of art "
I had met Yves Klein (the monochrome)
Manzoni (shit in art)
and knew about Duchamp's Ready Made
So when Maciunas in 1962 in London
said to me :
There is someone in New York called George Brecht
whose work also contains a limit in art
I said : what does he do?
Maciunas answered :
He blinks or just shakes your hand or closes a door.
or even just leaves a chair in a corner
you can't tell if it is a work of art or just a chair
I remember being taken so aback
that I decided to go to New York
and meet this incredible George Brecht
that is what I did...

This is the opening section only. The full piece can be found among Ben's magnificent heap at ben-vautier.com

Once there go to IMPORTANT
(as shown here on the right)
click on that,
then click on
POUR GEORGE BRECHT - 2008-12-09