jabjabjabbutstillitcomes

After 2 years of careful rule following, of mask wearing, of hand washing, of social distancing, of jab, jabbing, and jabbed I have had over a week, so far of covid. Whilst wiping out the whole week of work this has meant quite an impressive 4-day headache, a colossal sore throat and among other things has lead to a loss of taste, general woozyness and weakness. How did my eyes get to ache? But in the positive column a by-product of sleeping outside in the day has been the beginning of a summer tan and in the last couple of evenings an easing of symptoms but an inability to sleep has meant I have read and read. The Go-Between: A Portrait of Growing Up Between Different Worlds by Osman Yousefzada an interesting and slightly reminisce led book of a childhood that wasn't mine but returned me to another time. The parallel experience of the Asian children of my youth is exposed in a thoughtful and open way. https://www.anothermag.com/design-living/13904/the-go-between-osman-yousefzada-book-review-author-interview-202 The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World, the story of Rudolf Vrba's life by Jonathan Freeland was told with exquisite precision. What an extraordinary life. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/books/2022/jun/08/the-escape-artist-by-jonathan-freedland-review-the-first-jews-to-escape-auschwitz Reading it has meant that I went on to watch episode 20 of World at War, reliving the fear I felt as a child, the burning faces within the opening titles. Whilst it was fascinating to see a man whose life I had just read about living and talking the death camp footage was as shocking as the day I first saw it and images of men marching through streets with burning torches, and the talk of purity and nationalism had a disturbing resonance. So, then there is the obvious move onto rereading Primo Levi's If This is a Man, more detail of pain and human degradation but also strength. Onto screens - Coda, a beautiful feel-good story, smart, clever, and funny. Bull, a brutal revenge tale with a twisting reveal, wince inducing and a little traumatizing. Meddler, a tale of loss and connection, sad and yet warming. Hustle, Adam Sandler is on a roll, fast paced and believable, especially enjoyed the travel montage. Chivalry – the tone of the series sometimes feels random, each episode feels almost separate from the next - there is a handbrake turn of a direction in episode 3 - the whole thing pervades a sense of unease and discomfort - which I think is the point. Fresh – it has comedy thriller on the box but I struggled to find laughs with the level of oppressive activity, the central premise is a believable, interesting internet niche market idea but ultimately sad and dark.

floorceilingfloorcorner

I have been re-reading If on a Winter's Night a Traveller by Calvino and thinking about the physicality of books - books that are not about reading - or roles other than reading - this has crashing into my thinking about solutions to mini projects that we are working on at Camberwell on the final weeks of the Book Art Course. What is the role of the book if not to be read?......floor ceiling floor corner

I went to see Julia Backwell last year talk and bought Time Song - Looking for Doggerland, just managed to get round to it this week - her thoughtful writing liminally slips through time and place through objects and moments - a thoroughly beautiful read.

I have just come across Prof. Scott Galloway - his refreshing honest around education and its costs is shockingly brutal -you might start with The Algebra of Happiness which covers a lot of ground - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gfEjOgxBfI and is another strand of his straightforward thinking.

So onto some entertainment - two important films that you must see but are not an easy watch - Just Mercy was relentless and important Never Rarely Sometimes Always is a brutal suppression around women's bodies. An easier but another indictment on how we live our lives - this time capitalism re-watching doesn't make it easier to see the lessons within The Big Short. Two cartoon recommendations are the freaky darkness that is The Shivering Truth - season 2 is out https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6905458/  and the Quirkiness goodness of Central Park https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8129006/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 Series include Snowpiercer (unsure if its necessary as the film exists) and Little Fires Everywhere (uneven and moments of overacting).

readingreadingreading

7 days in Croatia - in between sun bathing, swimming, eating and drinking I managed some time to read - Catherine Lacey - The answers - a tale of girlfriend deconstruction. Ian Mcewan - people like us - a tale of how machines want to be treated and how we treat them. Everything you ever wanted - Luiza Sauma - a tale of madness loss and pain towards on the way to redemption. The Wall - John Lanchester - a Kafkaesque dystopian tale of separatism. Second life - SJ Watson - a dubious tale of unravelled women and oppressive men. Back to 'reality' with meetings about timetables, introduction to electronic registers and more timetables.

booksbooksbooksinthemandreadingthem

the new edition of the book arts newsletter is out http://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/pdf/newspdfs/113.pdf

- check out a listing of my work on page 13, also the artist book yearbook http://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/publications/artists-book-yearbook.html which is as ever packed with excellent texts and useful and informed information about current practice - there is  a 6 page article about the work I've been involved in with NanoDTC - https://unfoldingthinking.blogspot.co.uk/

meanwhile

8 days sitting next to a pool enabled time for some reading - Ali Smith - There but for the - a fractured layered thoughtful guide through time, Ian McEwan - Nutshell - laugh out loud solid crafted text, Naomi Alderman - Power - beware, a potential dystopia fable that puts up a mirror to the society we live in, Matt Haig - The Humans - a story to enable us to rethink the world around us, David Grossman - a horse walks into a bar - you are in the presence of a tragic story that needs to be told with some excellent jokes, finally two books a little close to home..... Philip Roth - The plot against America - a what if book ....what if Nazis took over America? Lionel Shriver - The Mandibles - a what if book......what if America had a financial crash and old money and old power floated to the top?

inspiredbythesoundsofthepastnow

Managed to catch up with some reading Yeah Yeah Yeah the history of Pop Music is most excellent – I’ve been reading it next to a lap top and so combining the sounds and images of the past with the words of Bob Stanley some of the gems are when rock and roll didn’t have a name and they were making it up as they went along.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7OHg5d8Zkw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0il2Qd3jcs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_f9lrXd_48

So far I’m up to British Beat Groups...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuszDqPhEL0

and then there are the Beatles...the book has really turned up the grit in these tracks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlW3SolhcIo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d-Z7vakj4s

I think we have all been inspired and/or had our thoughts on creativity and education confirmed by watching Ken Robinson’s TED lecture – how schools kill creativity http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html His new book continues the theme, widening ideas around education  with stirring examples of individuals finding their element.