Wednesday, March 21, 2012

21st March 2012

Well I never saw that one coming! Yes I’ve spent the day at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, a very simple car journey up the M1 for about an hour. My son decided he’d be quite happy visiting the place with me and we had a great time puzzling over Joan Miró’s work. Perhaps like so many contemporary artists, the question, ‘What is that all about?’ must echo around the exhibition space more than any other. Of course we adopted the prerequisite intellectual posture when within earshot of other visitors. But really? My son’s snapshot above includes a longstanding Barbara Hepworth ‘Family of Man’ sculpture which I gave up puzzling over years ago. So for completeness here’s ‘Mujer’ (Woman) by Miró, one of many within the same theme. At least I think it is…

My 24 year old son has never been exposed to modern art in this way before and was completely surprised by what he saw. He’s basically computer science educated with on-line gaming as his main recreational activity, so when he saw works like this he instinctively likened it to certain characters in the games world he’s so familiar with. That had me thinking. Given that Miró created most of this work maybe forty or fifty years ago I wonder where the computer games artists got some of their inspiration from? But then again I’m sure I saw a likeness to Wallace and Gromit not far from this one. Maybe I should be careful not to speak too loudly about that though!

I love the creativity of accomplished artists. Whether I totally appreciate, let alone understand their work, is totally irrelevant. I don’t have to find space in my home for any of it, limited edition prints of even some of his ‘paintings/drawings’ were priced at up to £4500…whoa! But actually it’s all pretty amazing stuff and it always stirs one’s own creativity. Ok I can’t imagine casting a 12’ high bronze figure in my back garden but there are lots of other avenues to explore. My totally amateur watercolour paintings are always enjoyable to produce. I’ve not done one for ages. Likewise my song writing experiments are far too hit and miss. My Loughborough daughter is part of a song writer’s group that meets to critique and encourage, and she played me a delightful song she’d written and recorded when I visited yesterday. I could do that, I’ve got all the gear. There’s nothing to stop me doing anything I choose. And the beauty of it all is that I only have myself to please. I don’t have to work towards any particular goal. No, my artwork will never make the Tate and I really don’t expect to play my music at the Albert Hall either!

I’ve played guitar and sung before royalty though. And that’s a thing! Yes Jane brought that to my attention a couple of years ago. One day we were singing and playing together, guitar and whistle, and completely lost in worship. Suddenly Jane had a revelation… she ‘saw’ the Lord in heaven calling for attention, ‘Listen to that’ he said, ‘Jane and Dave are singing to me again!’ We still do that, only we’re not together anymore. But I do wonder what it’s like to hear the Lord sing…

Zephaniah 3:17 ‘For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty saviour. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.’ (NLT)

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