Fables

Sebastian Fellows, generally regarded as the greatest artist of our times has called me over to the new centre of his operation. Orcadia, the archipelago that most associate him with has proved too obscure a location to operate from. He tells me, 'do not listen to The Simon Park Orchestra', the truth lies not at eye level nbut under our feet, above us. His work has made navel gazers in a cul de sac of the European avant Garde. It is with tearful regret that I have to accept his civil partnership with snooker legend Neal nFoulds. His commentry brought new spice to this years World Championship yet the career of a sportsman is nothing to Fellows. The superinjunction Foulds took out to prevent the world knowing of his and Fellows relationship took one hell of a twittering. Fellows has never hidden his sexuality though the tough, manly world of Snooker seems unready for this.

It seems only yesterday that I and Sebastian walked through Clun looking at his new studios. The Sun Inn had but one double room left so after sinking 7 pints of the local brew we reclined in the bridle suite. Nothing untoward took place I would like to reassure Foulds. My and Fellows connection is based on art, furniture and design. Foulds love is for the green baize, the clack of the balls, the angles and pockets.

Though Fellows had nursed his mother through the later stages of cancer he seldom took a day off design. The 'Floral Immoral' works are evidence of this. Dieing in the Living Room, a piece we collaborated on will stand the test of time.

Twin Fables

Rope Swing

Each day I pass the swing

Grown to see its reflection as summer waiting. When the kids break up and the studio becomes a cooridor for boys outdoor fun, swimming, huckleberry finn . There is change on the way. I can not take another year of this. Beauty isn't something I can avoid.

Gridlock 2 comes home

Seen here through my car window Gridlock 2 looks a sad sight. The idea, elementary; a grid of blocks locked together with cycle quick release clamps. Collection was heartbreaking. I messed up.

Post

House

Changes

When I think back to the early days of Skreeworld blog and the blogs I followed there was a filtering of crap. The tendency now, unless you are a journalist is to throw all out on to facebook . This gives a twisted security, as your 'freinds' build in number your responsibillity in keeping them freinds, in the true sense of the word, waters down all comment to trivia. I get a barrage of a few peoples thoughts and favourite video clips, like the loudest kid in the class shouting out for attention. Bullying, or that social hierarchy shite evolves. When we just had blogs we through our thoughts out to the whole world, though few heard yet I heald little back. Now I find Facebook has changed my relationship to the computer. I think it time to step out. There are few snippets that change my thinking and a ton of dross.

Party dress code restrictions

Sarah Lucas

Truly great today to read a piece on Lucas after the barrage of shite over Tracy Emins retrospective. A poor show. Sarah Lucas' work has always caught me off guard, taken me to new places where as Emins has seemed just a pure piece of good fortune, bullying and knowing the right people. I dislike her politics, find her work mundane and just see her celebrity on a par with Chantelle from Celebrity Big Brother, sneaked in to see if anyone could tell. Lucas took us down avenues of thought, bravely exposing trash and art, Emin took us nowhere, put off countless good artists and now sits counting her money criticizing tax systems that enabled her to get where she is. All praise to Chapman for having the bravery eloquently point out her stupidity. The conversation is embarrassing. I sincerely hope Sarah Lucas show is a blinder, Emins is just blind. The art cogniscenti daren't critisize, blaming Sewell as if his distain matters to anyone anymore. I was also impressed by Sarahs bravery in talking about the competitive nature of her generation, the random fortunes that we all face, the suicide of her ex Angus Fairhurst and the admission that his choice may well have been connected to the random fortunes bestowed on their generation. It was all luck; perhaps Hirst pushed harder, had a faster mind but why Emin should achieve her status is purely the lack of bottle of those around her to see the emperess wore no clothes. I dont begrudge her success just the blurring of delivery and achievement. Tracy Emin isn't a very good artist. Sarah Lucas is an amazing one. If you can't see that you ought to spend your time looking at other areas of human endeavour.

The Secret Gathering

This event had to be arranged under extreme secrecy due to the FDMA DMOU war currently taking place. As overlord of the gang Sebastian Fellows suggested we meet on the smallest island in the archipelago of the Orkneys. Many camped out as the night was warm though breezy as Orcadian islands are. Fellows arrived by hellicopter with his Civil Partner Neal Foulds, snooker legend. Foulds punditry work at this years snooker world championships was exemplary though the issue of non members attending, even Overlords partners caused a stir. I was staying in the same B&B and the noises of their love making forced me out. This was much later though. Fellows gave a talk on Design Injunctions and their effect on the Contemporary Object. Once the debates were out of the way the night gathered momentum. FDMA was everywhere. Dancing around the vast campfire to songs praising the glory of the FDMA went on long in to the night. As the FDMA wore off and my room was too noisy I sat watching the waves gently roll in, diseminating Fellows words of wisdom.

jason feddy heroin

Feddy, top stuff

Dieing in the Living room 2

How did I end up having to defend Pete Doherty? Met him thrice, he was always nice to me, so I say he is ok. Friends say he is bad. Thier stories are internet or newspaper based. He has always been nice to me. What more can I say? Post some you tube clips? Post some red top journalism. I'll stick with the first hand stuff. Maybe he is a bad'un, but he ain't never been like that to me. I just liked his songs. Unlike most popstars he took time to talk to me. I gave him some advice about his dilemna. He listened. He asked if some of his fans who had travelled a long way to watch him could stay at mine for the night. I put them up. First time I met him he was with his family. 2nd time he wasn;t well but still took time to talk. Do I believe the press or how he was with me? Many seem passionately against him. More people were at the party where that fella died than at Glastonbury. All I have is what I've seen and what gossip I've heard. It doesn't really matter now. He's in jail. For taking drugs.

Dieing in the Living Room

Calm

pete doherty 'for lovers'

Peter and Wolfman in jail now

The Art of Diplomacy

Once again the anarchic youth are making sonic mayhem downstairs. Last time I went down I went in anger and nearly got a kicking from a gang of pissed up binge drinkers. Why can't youth hold their drink? Why must they fight and shout and play crap music all night? I still hear the shouts but the booming of music has stopped. Each weekend I face the choice of holding my breath, seeing my dog cower or to grab a bat and charge in and smash some heads. But what then? I would get a battering, war would break out. I was diplomatic tonight, I just hope they don't return, more drunk and cause trouble. Of all the drugs that a country should choose as their legal option alcohol seems strange. Unless children are brought up in an environment where recreational alcohol use is present we will have binge drinking. People need to be taught how to drink. It's like training a boxer. Discipline.

Pete Doherty sent down

Tonight Peter will be starting his rattle. Somehow, I guess because he was innocent of the party death that internet campaigns tried to pin on him, he was cleared from that mess. However, for being filmed smoking a crack pipe, he has been given 6 months. With Clarke trying to keep prison numbers down the judge somehow saw fit to send a man to prison for smoking a pipe. The girl who took the footage died the following day from a heroin overdose. She was from a posh family, well connected. Her self inflicted death has brought a punishment on Doherty no other crack smoker would get. The campaign into justice for the poor lad that fell or was pushed will no doubt continue. Clearly if the police are hell bent on getting Doherty for anything, if there was a grain of truth in his involvement they would be down on him like a ton of bricks. I hear more info from people who know someone who was 'there' than people who saw the Sex Pistols at the Lesser Free Trade Hall gig in Manchester.

Slade - Mama Weer All Crazee Now - Slade In England

My My We're all crazee now

Slade - Far Far Away - Slade In England ( Composite)

Slade - How Does It Feel - Slade In England

I'll take this as the song to be played at my funeral. It must be played in full though or I refuse to die.

At times of confusion

Even my computer seems to be in league with the fantastic against me.

Goobye

A truly selfish person that will rob from family and take anything from anyone as soon as they show kindness.

Gota get away

I want out

Facebook latest

It is coming along fine though it does feel like a broadspread of you. Do you get elitist and preserve the abillity to say the truth or gather masses and have to be polite to everyone. Maybe thats where I've been going wrong all my life, I don't really like most people all that much. Anyone with over 5 friends is a liar or rich and about to get less so. I'm not that bad but I bet if you really thought about it, any of you, do you have more than 5 friends?

Adulthood Attention Important

There are myths I can no longer defend. My life has been a journey with art and alterred consciousness at its core. I say this with no pride, I wish I could have been content as a stockbroker or a gardener but fate cast me this hand. I am getting older now and must not be an idiot. An idiot comes from the Greek Aristotle, meening someone who just lives a good life. The thinking was that it was ones duty to see yourself as duty bound to share your observations in debate.

Many may say I'm not an artist because I havn't exhibitted any art lately, exhibitted or even made any furniture of significsance for a while. I still give you at least 5 great photo images a week and the serious stuff is still going on. Sometimes one activity can shut down another. The gym freak has to decide if strength is more important than body building.

I hope to produce more but feel without exposure, and I can't hob nob with knobs, that the gallery hunt is desperate and depressing.

This should not be a reason to stop, well I can't stop, this is me, this chaotioc jumble of info and observations.

By the way, if by chance I or you should pass the art world test be sure to expose every dirty last corner. I feel totally let down by all that.

From now on I will make art, I will still show good art by others but the popstar bit is going.  show good art by outsiders, real noutsiders.

Skreeworld changes from here on its respect for establishment art will not be mentioned, even when it does occur

No One is that Special

I was right all along. They took me to Jacob Kramer to see if they could give me hope as my schooling was failing. All I saw was that knowledge all artists learn that it isnt anything about being good anymore. After a social class dilemna i had heald for 5 years already i could see just another system. Tragic how good artists are shouldered out by the loud mediocre.

Sarah

Slashes of time

The In

It is an easy one to pick on but the art cogisenti, the inner circle are the direct destroyers of what they claim to represent. Art, the pure desire to make art to communicate is directly oppressed and shunned in as deep a fashion as the BNP shun ethnic minorities. The sole aim is to get involved in the 'conversation', to be part of the in crowd at the expense of all else. Just as from childhood we pick up traits, how you hold your knife and fork, how you ask for sundry items tattoos you with class, and this is hard to escape, the art world, the london based embarrassenti set rules, snippets of knowledge you are assumed to know, an accent and manner you must conform to in order to be involved. Like the casual raccist they can't even see it in themselves. To show beauty, to express through other means than vebal language an understanding of the world that can change anothers perception of reality, becomes secondary to developeing your hype. Some great artists do make it in to this small group but not many. A lot of poor artists do. Once accepted it allows them to lie to themselves about what they truly are. There is a naivety that inspires a little fondness but when you go to Tracy Emins show, unless you are a desperate idiot trying to join the gang or a thinker capable of projecting your art,thought and feelings on to any visual stimuli, you are confronted with the work of a teenager, not that that is a bad thing but it is no more than any teenager She has no gifts of observation or understanding, just a bullish temperament.

Leeds RL beat Catalans

A tough test for two teams on unbeaten runs. Leeds shaky start to the season is starting to seem the result of injuries rather than a transitional period of redevelopement. Tonight Leeds won 30 points to 6 though the scoreline flattered the win was conclusive. A lengthy period of attack in the first half brought little reward. In the second half Leeds came out and mastered the Dragons. Pundits are still saying Wigan and Warrington are the teams of the season but a five game unbeaten run with 30 points or more scored in each must put the message out that Leeds are coming back to their best.

Support for Ai Weiwei

Anish Kapoor dedicated his largest piece, Leviathon to Ai Weiwei to draw attention to the plight of the missing Chinese artist. Ai is probably best known for his Turbine Hall work of porcelain sun flower seeds and his vision for the Olympic Beijing stadium. Lisson Gallery is also running a retrospective of his work from the last decade.
This, in many ways is new territory. Many disident Chinese disappear but Ai Weiwei is world renowned. It is great to see fellow artists using their profile to help Ais' plight.
Meanwhile Tracy Emin used her media attention to support the coalition.

David Haye

As an ex amateur boxer I found it terribly insulting of David Haye to refuse to shake hands with Klitschko. Haye has dodged the fight, manipulated things to his favour when he isn;t the true champion. The Champion is the man who beat the man. Sadly boxing politics have seen the title split in to 4 or more though any true fight fan knows the route from Ali in to a mess that Tyson unified,Holyfield took the line, again the line split though Lennox Lewis rose to be the heavyweight no one could beat. Since then the Klitschko brothers have dominated. Haye should go to them. Haye has never been truly tested. He needs to beat at least one Klitshko to even claim to be true heavyweight champion. He needs to then defend the title for a while to be remembered.
Joe Chalzaghe beat Chris Eubank and spent a decade undefeated, fought all comers, thats a champion. Khan may yet grow to be a legend like Manny Pacquiao is now, the worlds best pound for pound boxer.

Black

Purple

Rainbow

Budlea Blue

Frog on Boot

my boot and an anonymous frog

Anonymous

I don't know whether you were calling me a tit or referring to the video clip. I watched it again and can see how someone may have seen this and completely misunderstood it. I can only suggest you do further research to try to grasp the context. This is a book that has developed from a blog written by a stranger in a strange, dangerous yet fascinating land that reveals a world, fortunately most of us will not see. How to survive in one of Americas hardest jails whilst still not succumbing to the pressures of gang support is an achievment I found fascinating.I am struggling to understand what provoked your comment, unless you are an extreme raccist.
Post back to help me understand, maybe even be brave enough to put up your name.

Shaun Attwood's Waterstone's Guildford Book Signing

All Skreeworld followers should know jonsjailjournal blog, now Shaun is free and his book is out. Buy it!

Paving

Boots

Anything in summer light after winters subdued half light is a hallucinogenic joy.

Red Admiral on Plywood

Working on a house today, fitting cabinets. Had my Festool Plunge Saw set up twixt two workmates. A red admiral just kept coming down. Nothing I could do would stop the suicidal butterfly. It's been a great and early year for butterflies. Seen twenty odd types so far. I won't bore any blog followers with last years quest to get photos or sightings of them all but you still can't fail to succumb to their beauty.

Trump

Judd Trump may have lost the final but he won for me. He is the morning paper I wont read, he is the future. A more honourable loser than the world champ Higgins, the world number 1 who chose money over competitive win.

Tooth Ache

In constant pain at the moment. My last wisdom tooth has the left hand side of my head feeling like its caught a wack from a cricket bat. Tempted to pull it pout with some pliers, if I can't get an appointment by then I'll give it a go and report the results.

Local Grafiti number 2046

Henry Cooper RIP

It was an injustice in 1963 when Henry floored Clay and at the bell Clays corner slit hisa glove with a razor to give Clay time to recover. We will never know if Henry would have beaten young Cassius that day. Ali would have gone on to legendery status either way. Cooper became a national treasure anyway. We loved you 'Enry and always will

Poly Styrene RIP 2

A great influence on my outlook. Celeste and Debutante Disco keep the flame

Labour Day

The banning of the may day bank holiday, Beltane, pagan origin. Also the day of the worker, Labour Day, the refusal to work, the origins of the Labour Movement. Stop the other bank holidays but not this one.

Stokes Croft Tesco Riots

So a fourth day night of rioting since the raid on the squat at Stokes Croft where, alegedly, petrol bombs were found. For hippies were home at the time. This triggered a protest from the largely middle class community tat don't want a Tesco Express. This is nothing like the '80's race riots in St Pauls, Chappeltown, Toxteth, Brixton et, al, hat lit up Britain in '82 hortly after the previous onservative government were elected. The pre Christmas student riots were again middle class kids concerned about their education. Whilst both waves of protest are against the brutality of the 'survival of the strongest and richest' enforcing any upward mobillity or equallity or even charity they are quite different. Thatchers revolution against the labour heavy North and any attempt to live a different way, her crushing of the mining communities and the destruction of the new age travellers. Anyone who knew the Traveller life pre Beanfield will know that todays Traveller scene is but a shadow of what was a beautiful life choice. There will be more and more protests. Even I believe an overhaul of the benefits system was necessary but Cameron is leading the country in to what may ammount to civil war. What the result of the AV referendum may leave could be far greater than we imagine. If the voting system leaves no alternative then we will see change. They all think they can get away with it. Egypt has shown what can happen when complacency over rides understanding of the people. Cameron and Clegg aren't evil, they are just totally out of touch with the majority of the people living under their rule. There will be more riots. The streets will become unsafe again and like Thatcherism it will collapse. Loyalty to community, something lost with children from Oxford supporting Manchester United will come back on them. I would like to take a coach of young Man U fans from Oxford and drop them in Hume for the night.

Dog Executed

One of the saddest aspects of the travellers being hit by armed police was the 'destruction of a dangerous dog'. The dog in question had genes that have been made illegal. The dog itself has been brought up with love and has never hurt animal or human yet due to genetic heritage alone has been put to death. This act of hienous cruelty cannot be justuified on any level. A dog is the result of its' upbringing. Dogs have been bred to fight by humans though it is how they are nurtured that makes a beast. I can only imagine the pain the dogs owners are feeling. If my dog were taken away and killed I can only imagine my anger. Your dog is your child. This is murder.