Add to Technorati Favorites

Alter Egos - I Am Done Watching This

When clicking on an Alter Egos in the sidebar, please look above this title for video content.

Monday, January 21, 2008

The Spiritually Bankrupt and The Utterly Tedious

The Stuckists of course are committed not just to painting but to writing also. A few things they have to say:

"There is popular writing known as the blockbuster or airport novel but this is considered trash by the critics. Then there is the writing by pseudo-intellectuals which is very popular with the critics but considered even worse trash by us.

Contemporary writing is cowardly and unchallenging because squalor is tedious not remarkable. If you find yourself in a rubbish bin the only interesting narrative is how to climb out, not how ill you can make yourself by ingesting it.

The writer can only write what he knows about him/her self. To develop as a writer you must develop as a person.

In any period that the writer lives he/she has to say the wrong thing to get it right.

One of the worst things a writer can do is conceive of themselves as a writer whilst writing. The best writing is written by human beings. Besides what kind of an idiot would want to be anything other than a human being? (This is especially true of poetry and poets).

The main advantage of contemporary literature over current established visual art is that it attracts less media attention and is therefore easier to ignore.

On inspection there would appear to be fewer problems with contemporary writing than with contemporary visual arts, but both have the problem of being spiritually bankrupt. (Except poetry, which on the whole has the problem of being utterly tedious).

2 comments:

Marcella Paliekara said...

Oh God, I finally understand something you are saying. I wonder if this means I am growing as a human. I hope so. This post is very interesting and full of insight. Thank you.

Marcella

Bakin Rapscallion said...

"The Spiritually Bankrupt and The Utterly Tedious"--that's the name of my favorite pub. It's become quite a lively place since they decided to get rid of the happy hour. The cadaverous buy all the drinks--the joint is filled with dead beats. Well, I've copied your post onto a bar napkin--it will certainly make a useful reference. There's a light at the exit this analysis...and it's powered by a percipient Dead Beat. Thanks for showing us the door. Insight comes quick when one is being kicked out.