Something in Auckland to go to

Song for these days

Fascists are all I see

One too many buttfuckers controlling me

But suicide or vigilante

To up the ante - which is my way?

Ain't but the one way

Ain't but the one way

Ain't but the one way... (gunshot)

To be free

Step into view... and about time

Make yourself some enemies + step out of line

We need a deadly assassin

And we need to do it today

'Cause the greed inside the greedheads ain't ever gonna go away...

Grab yourself some friends, man

And grab yourself a good plan

And get yourself a hitman

And work out a time span

And aim for the Headman... Then lie low

- Julian Cope, 'Ain't but the one way'

Smoking

In New Zealand, tobacco smoking causes more illness and early death than using any other drug. Tobacco smoking causes more than seven times the number the deaths caused by car crashes.

- the warning on my tobacco packet

I say, good work!

Finished

Well, I finished the graphic novel last night. Cos I'm feeling evil, though, I might not post the final instalment – make you wait for the printed version

Hikoi

They're not very good photos, but they give some idea.

Exciting!

I've got half a page to go before finishing the first draft of my graphic novel. With any luck, I'll do that tonight (though I've got a pesky flat inspection to prepare for).

I'm looking forward to getting stuck into some painting for a change. The graphic novel's been fun and all, but pencil and paper just doesn't cut it.

The proper way to work

If you devote yourself to the ascetic life, if you renounce all worldly pleasures, all human things, you may, I suppose, attain a certain concentration: but for the same reason you might dry up. Now, on the other hand, if you plunge headlong into the arms of passion, you may just as easily burn yourself up! Art, love, and passion are very closely related because everything revolves more or less around knowledge and the enjoyment of beauty in one form or another. And intoxication is beautiful, is it not, my friend?

- Max Beckmann, Letters to a Woman Painter

Quote of the day

I know very well that in the realm of pure concentration your greatest enemies are the evils of the big wide world: motor cars, photographs, movies – all those things that more or less consciously take away from people their belief in their own individuality and their transcendent possibilities and turn them into stereotyped men. ... The important thing is first of all to have a real love for the visible world that lies outside ourselves as well as to know the deep secret of what goes on within ourselves. ... Remember that depth in space in a work of art (in sculpture, too, though the sculptor must work in a different medium) is always decisive. The essential meaning of space or volume is identical with individuality, or that which mankind calls God. For, in the beginning there was space, that frightening and unthinkable invention of the Force of the Universe. Time is the invention of mankind; space or volume, the palace of the gods. ... One must have the deepest respect for what the eye sees and for its representation on the area of the picture in height, width, and depth. We must observe what may be called the Law of the Surface, and this law must never be broken by using the false technique of illusion. Perhaps then we can find ourselves, see ourselves in the work of art. ... So, with all this work before you, your beauty culture and your devotion to the external pleasures of life must suffer. But take consolation in this: you will still have ample opportunity to experience agreeable and beautiful things, but these experiences will be more intense and alive if you yourself remain apart from the senseless tumult and bitter laughter of stereotyped man.

- Max Beckmann, Letters to a Woman Painter

Sixth instalment

Here's a link to the fifth instalment. When we last saw our heroes, they'd defeated the Spanish fleet commanded by Columbus and returned to the New World with new settlers.

Auckland etc

I've just returned from a week in Auckland. I had a really good time, saw some good paintings, had lots of great conversations with people, and watched heaps of Doctor Who. If you're there and haven't yet seen Matt Hunt's show at Ivan Anthony, do it now. It features the largest paintings he's ever done.

I have been disconnected from the Internet for the duration, which was quite nice, but I do have the next instalment of my artist comic (formerly known as my graphic novel) to scan in and post. This will probably be on Monday.

Update on Monday: It turns out I've left the comic up in Auckland, buried in a pile of books. Plonker.