Sunday, November 22, 2009

Let's take a breath...


Today I've been working on an interview on a much respected artist from my own country South Africa. I enjoy interviewing and I enjoy art. If I'm being honest, I just love to look at it. I love bright colours and anything that makes things beautiful. Like the icing on a cake, or a necklace on a striking woman...but her stuff is so thought provoking and not only lovely to look at, it also grips you and makes you think. It's almost like a trap...it's like you look at a wall, and think 'wow, look at that amazing graffiti' and you just peer with ignorance and innocence like a mouse would to the cheese in a mouse trap...then BAM it hits you. She is not just trying to show you something pretty, she is trying to lure you in with aesthetics and then grip you with it's message and leave you thinking and wondering what that was that you just felt. It's called emotion and this emotion is called panic. It's panic because you know things are happening and going on and this person is taking time out to create something to bring it to peoples attention and what are you doing?

I know I give a lot of tongue-in-cheek advice and pep talks like the obnoxious bird that I am. It's about boys and sex and fashion and drinking and partying and general living. After spending the day in the mind of this artist I kinda felt a little guilty for being so passionate about the mundane...but then I thought to myself, hang on, these issues are important. I call it 'Take my Advice...I don't Use it Anyway' not only because I enjoy the play on words but also because there is truth behind it. I have made mistakes, and I am still going to and sometimes, when you are in the middle of a'Fuck My Life' situation you often need to know that other people have experienced the same thing, so you aren't some kind of fucking weirdo. I also just try to say what everyone is thinking anyway.

So whilst my writing may be what I call 'whipped cream' on the dessert of life and may not make a massive dent in the world, I hope that some awkward twenty odd year old out there takes a bit of what I have to say and it makes her or him realise that 'hey, things ain't so bad'.

1 comment:

D said...

it may not be hard-hitting but your advice is very refreshing and relatable. thank you for that.