Author: stevendouglasblog

Born in 1954. Chequered career including Lecturer in English, Social Worker and Lecturer in Social Work. Had breaks related to mental health that also meant I worked in social care. Now retired.

‘These words that sculpt us from nothing but silent matter into monsters’. The art of Gary Indiana in ‘To Whom It May Concern’ (2011): a co-production with Louise Bourgeois.

December 9, 2023

‘These words that sculpt us from nothing but silent matter into monsters’. The art of Gary Indiana in To Whom It May Concern (2011) London, Violette Editions (still available it seems) a co-production with Louise Bourgeois. Louise Bourgeois with that phallic monstrosity of a sculpture, ‘Fillette’ (‘little girl’)  she carried with her frequently, and Gary … More ‘These words that sculpt us from nothing but silent matter into monsters’. The art of Gary Indiana in ‘To Whom It May Concern’ (2011): a co-production with Louise Bourgeois.

Making an ass of myself: Playing Bottom (in ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ of course)

December 8, 2023

Making an ass of myself: Playing Bottom (in ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ of course. When I taught English Literature at the Roehampton Institute I played Bottom in a perambulating production in the grounds of the then Froebel College, a constituent part of the Institute. It started off in a grove in the gardens and ended in … More Making an ass of myself: Playing Bottom (in ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ of course)

Pauline Boty once characterised female desire in the following terms: “… a glimpse of future delight, a suggested violent pleasure. A life full of promise, fulfilling all those vague longing wanting feelings. You’ll never feel lost, alone, unwanted again – …”. This blog examines how that idea is reflected, as well as other things, in Marc Kristal (2023) ‘Pauline Boty: British Pop Art’s Sole Sister’.

December 7, 2023

Pauline Boty once characterised female desire (on the BBC Light Programme in 1963) in the following terms: “… a glimpse of future delight, a suggested violent pleasure. A life full of promise, fulfilling all those vague longing wanting feelings. You’ll never feel lost, alone, unwanted again – …”.[1]  This blog examines how that idea is … More Pauline Boty once characterised female desire in the following terms: “… a glimpse of future delight, a suggested violent pleasure. A life full of promise, fulfilling all those vague longing wanting feelings. You’ll never feel lost, alone, unwanted again – …”. This blog examines how that idea is reflected, as well as other things, in Marc Kristal (2023) ‘Pauline Boty: British Pop Art’s Sole Sister’.

Ask yourself, not only ‘why’ do I want to see contained wild animals but ‘what’ needs in me does that covering need suggest.

December 6, 2023

Definitions aren’t always necessary but here I think they are, for the idea of the ‘wild’ has always has problematic associations because it only has meaning in contrast with its antonyms (words with an opposite meaning) and hence is easily absorbed into binary thinking. That is more obvious in contexts set by specialist synonyms of … More Ask yourself, not only ‘why’ do I want to see contained wild animals but ‘what’ needs in me does that covering need suggest.

That was a place. If I was a good-enough writer or painter I could recreate it in ways in which its ‘placeness’ found itself in a much larger context. But I am not an artist. .

December 5, 2023

That was a place. If I was a good-enough writer or painter I could recreate it in ways in which its ‘placeness’ found itself in a much larger context. But I am not an artist. <sigh>. (My title is an edited quotation from my text below, in want of other inventive power.) At first blush … More That was a place. If I was a good-enough writer or painter I could recreate it in ways in which its ‘placeness’ found itself in a much larger context. But I am not an artist. .

‘We are all Narcissus, we are all monstrous, in that we are trapped between various ways of seeing and being seen’. Some books cannot be praised enough. This is a blog on Matt Colquhoun (2023) ‘Narcissus in Bloom: An Alternative History of the Selfie’. @xenogothic

December 4, 2023

‘We are all Narcissus, we are all monstrous, in that we are trapped between various ways of seeing and being seen’.[1] A foundation for a queer left cultural commentary and history of ideas in art and  writing. Some books cannot be praised enough. This is a blog on Matt Colquhoun (2023) Narcissus in Bloom: An … More ‘We are all Narcissus, we are all monstrous, in that we are trapped between various ways of seeing and being seen’. Some books cannot be praised enough. This is a blog on Matt Colquhoun (2023) ‘Narcissus in Bloom: An Alternative History of the Selfie’. @xenogothic

To mitigate the fact of being ‘born in moral stupidity, taking the world as an udder to feed our supreme selves’.

December 3, 2023

There could never be only one thing that I might wish to change in the conduct of my life but, to tell the truth, I think the notion anyway of doing it by changing something you think of as a unified, integrated and whole ‘self’ is, in part at least, more of a fiction than … More To mitigate the fact of being ‘born in moral stupidity, taking the world as an udder to feed our supreme selves’.

‘“You mustn’t allow yourself to think like that … even when you’re depressed. And is everything really so bad?” She adopted a light tone’. A blog on John Broderick (1985) ‘The Rose Tree’.

December 2, 2023

‘“You mustn’t allow yourself to think like that … even when you’re depressed. And is everything really so bad?” She adopted a light tone’.[1]The saddest art is that in which you can only ‘allow yourself to think’ the worst. A blog on John Broderick (1985) The Rose Tree London, Marion Boyars Publishers. Irish history is … More ‘“You mustn’t allow yourself to think like that … even when you’re depressed. And is everything really so bad?” She adopted a light tone’. A blog on John Broderick (1985) ‘The Rose Tree’.

“It’s Sodom, darling, worth committing to memory”. This is a blog on Justin Torres (2023) ‘Blackouts’.

November 30, 2023

“It’s Sodom, darling, worth committing to memory’.[1] In this story a person who is thought to look as if they are ‘on the lam’ (on the run from the law) learns some of the ways a fugitive may run and hide from a society that otherwise criminalises and/or pathologises them.[2] This sometimes means a choice … More “It’s Sodom, darling, worth committing to memory”. This is a blog on Justin Torres (2023) ‘Blackouts’.

The binding force of ‘technologies of self’. Better off without ’em.

November 29, 2023

What technology would you be better off without, why? According to Foucault, the modern management of self is to accentuate the ‘exomologesis’ (or dramatic demonstration) of the negation of  self in one big exaggerated monologue (actually it’s ‘exagoresis’ but ‘exaggerated monologue’ is smarter) in which you talk about  your self-abasement to what is and has … More The binding force of ‘technologies of self’. Better off without ’em.

‘… ; she knew it was everything not to die alone, not to be taken brutally, by force. …/ … What could she give him now? She knew what he would want from her: that stillness might grow to peace. Not still: held’. This blog attempts to explain what we materialists owe to Anne Michaels (2023) ‘Held’.

November 27, 2023

‘… ; she knew it was everything not to die alone, not to be taken brutally, by force. …/ … What could she give him now? She knew what he would want from her: that stillness might grow to peace. Not still: held’.[1] Only when we are held do we know that our stillness is … More ‘… ; she knew it was everything not to die alone, not to be taken brutally, by force. …/ … What could she give him now? She knew what he would want from her: that stillness might grow to peace. Not still: held’. This blog attempts to explain what we materialists owe to Anne Michaels (2023) ‘Held’.