New art

I got stranded in a queue in the post office yesterday which involved standing behind a pair of the noisiest little children I've ever encountered. They were making noises the like of which I've never heard. Mummy was trying to reason with them, but they thought she was playing a game. In the end she suggested they play in the photo booth, which created a really fun game involving pulling the curtain back and screaming "hello" at the tops of their lungs. When Mummy said "shh," the game became to scream louder. It was one of those ear-shattering noises which instantly made me want to either scream, dig my nails into the back of my hand or immediately burst into tears. I actually felt very sorry for the Mum. Two young lads under five? No thank you!

The rest of the day was all about continuing to plough through Em. I stumbled upon another lyric which I'd plainly deserted after about an hour's work. Half of it made no sense whatsoever and the rest of the words were an assortment of desperate cliches and platitudes. I felt deeply in ashamed. Note to self: must do better.

PK emailed later on to share with me the art project that his wife, Olivia and son, Antoine have been working on recently. The project focusses on female leaders from the 16th Century. Olivia has composed, performed and produced the music, and Antoine has provided the animation, which is stylised and really very quirky. Olivia's music is wonderfully challenging: confrontational electronica, stunningly layered. The third track, My Crown, is my favourite and features some glorious violin playing courtesy of my best mate, Fiona.

I enclose it here because I want to make it clear to some of these arts administrators that highly innovative and thought-provoking work IS being done by many artists who have simply been honing their craft under the radar. There's a hideous arrogance within my industry where leading figures appear to be more interested in creating new artists from scratch based on the type of person they feel OUGHT to be making art, rather than promoting what is already there just under the surface, or the glass ceiling, or whatever else we want to call it. It's a slightly subtle point that I'm making, but, if you take nothing else from this blog, you may find yourself discovering a new writing talent. But, for heaven's sake, if you do like what Olivia's done: get out there and share it with the world. It's almost impossible for a recording artist to get their work out there these days without the backing of a major record label. Enjoy!

https://vimeo.com/album/4287533