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You might have heard of that story about a stray dog being starved to death in the name of art. The artist, Guillermo Vargas, is accused of having captured a stray dog, tied it by a rope in his exhibition under the name of the exhibition written with dog food. Whether the dog died or escaped is not clear… Anyway, this is art in our century!
Another exhibition presents seven German artists, who are playing with the idea of ‘hosts and guests’, hosting lice in their hair for a period of three weeks while they are themselves guests in the museum.
I don’t know what you think about it, but that type of art leaves me cold, artistically anyway…
I found this quote on intelligence while reading Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. I love it, so I thought I would share it with you 
“that is his head, containing a brain of a different brand than that of the synthetic jellies preserved in the skulls around him”
What a nice compliment!
Last night, I went to see a production of Beckett’s ‘First Love’ by the Gare St Lazare Players at the Half Moon in Cork. I couldn’t miss that! It was the first time I ever saw something by Beckett on stage, and I wasn’t disappointed. It was brilliant!
In a few words, the story is that of a man who, after his father’s death, is thrown out of home and meets a woman on a bench (his new home). He becomes obsessed by her, a feeling he associates with love. After a few encounters on the bench, he moves into the spare room where she lives. After one night of sex, he keeps living there, enduring the noise from the clients she receives in rotation. Finally, he abandons her on the day of the birth of their child because he cannot stand the cries, these have kept haunting him to this day.
It wasn’t a play per se, but rather a recitation of the short story, ‘First Love’. I did read it before, but the performance by Conor Lovett gave it a completely different dimension. First of all, there was the man, Conor Lovett, with a physical appearance worthy of a Beckett character. He had an impressive presence on stage and managed to give life to words. Reading the story, I might have smiled, but last night, I laughed! Many would consider Beckett’s writings as pessimistic, I think they are just realist and pragmatic. Death is a certainty, the only one we have, and life is just, well, time spent waiting for death. Now, Beckett’s vision of that waiting for death might seem bleak to some, but I personally find it quite funny. It is definitely ‘food for thought’, if nothing else. Beckett’s characters do not seem too bothered by the apparent insignificance of their life, and his humour highlights that we might take it all a bit too seriously!
“The smell of corpses, distinctly perceptible under those of grass and humus mingled, I do not find unpleasant, a trifle on the sweet side perhaps, a trifle heady, but how infinitely preferable to what the living emit, their feet, teeth, armpits, arse, sticky foreskins and frustrated ovules.” (Beckett, ‘First Love’)
I was telling you about the ‘earth hour’. Although the project is more about awareness, it might be interesting to see if it has made a difference.
In terms of electricity consumption, the ‘earth hour’ in Ireland can be considered a success since the electricity use dropped by 1.5%, as this RTE article highlights. Some businesses actually got involved in the event and I believe they are the ones who can make a difference. Hopefully next year will be even better. Most importantly though, it should help people realise that day to day savings can also make a difference for the environment. Little things add up…
On another level, I found that the ‘earth hour’ was real quality time. I was a bit extreme and even unplugged the fridge, as a result the place was in total silence. I found that it gave me time to enjoy deep thinking without the distractions of modern life, and it’s something I will now do on a regular basis. I was talking to someone who told me she got to know her children during this hour. She actually got to talk to them and discovered more about them. This says a lot about our modern life. It seems that we have actually lost touch with the important things of life, starting with people around us, because we are too distracted by the modern world. Maybe it’s about time to realise that we should slow down a bit!
Therefore, from personal experience, I think the ‘earth hour’ has been a success. I hope more people will become aware about the impact electricity (since in this case it is limited to that) has, not only on the environment, but on our lives. I’m not talking about regressing, but maybe about learning to reach a better balance.
