Henry Miller

Another fascinting man is Henry Miller. Life affiriming i would say. Born in Brooklyn, he was known as "the Brooklyn Boy", a raging, mad, insatiable man, with a thirst for knowledge and of life. He wrote several of my favourite books, my favourite is Tropic of Capricorn - It has all the madness as usual, but still keeps his feet on the ground to some degree, for half of it anyway. Like all great artists, old Henry was misunderstood, though he certainly wanted to be. If you want to know more about the man, read his books, and listen to his interviews, like the one below.

A year ago I thought that I was an artist, I no longer think about it, I am.

1956 interview...

William Blake

And now for a poem by William Blake. I've had lines of this poem stuck in my head for the last month. He is an amazing man, I don't know where to begin talking about him, so i'll say no more.

THE HUMAN ABSTRACT

Pity would be no more
If we did not make somebody poor,
And Mercy no more could be
If all were as happy as we.

And mutual fear brings Peace,
Till the selfish loves increase
Then Cruelty knits a snare,
And spreads his baits with care.

He sits down with his holy fears,
And waters the ground with tears;
Then Humility takes its root
Underneath his foot.

Soon spreads the dismal shade
Of Mystery over his head,
And the caterpillar and fly
Feed on the Mystery.

And it bears the fruit of Deceit,
Ruddy and sweet to eat,
And the raven his nest has made
In its thickest shade.

The gods of the earth and sea
Sought through nature to find this tree,
But their search was all in vain:
There grows one in the human Brain

The Nine Muses

Mnemosyne. Dante Gabrielle Rossetti

After some time out of mind i have decided to get back on the ol horse, it's no longer strictly for that video art project, not that it ever really was...

Lately i have been looking into Greek Mythology. It really is a limitless source of inspiration. One of my favourite myths is that of THE NINE MUSES. To quote somewhere:

At one time, the goddesses of inspiring springs, the nine Muses became the representatives of poetry, the arts and science : Calliope, Muse of epic song, Clio, Muse of history, Euterpe, Muse of lyric song, Thalia, Muse of comedy and bucolic poetry, Melpomene, Muse of tragedy, Terpsichore, Muse of dance, Erato, Muse of erotic poetry, Polyhymnia, Muse of sacred song, and Urania, Muse of astronomy.

Now as the rumours go, Zeus slept with the Goddess (or Titan) of memory Mnemosyne nine nights in a row, and by doing so spawned each muse - which is really a stellar effort by both parties, though you especially have to feel for Mnemosyne the poor girl. A lot of myths revolve around both Mnemosyne and the Muses and there has been a lot of great art and poetry based upon them.



The Dance of Apollo and the Muses - Baldassare Peruzzi


From Hesiod - Theogony:

From the Heliconian Muses let us begin to sing
who hold the great and holy mount of Helicon, and
dance on soft feet about the deep-blue spring and
the altar of the almighty son of Cronos,

and, when they have washed their tender bodies in
Permessus, or in the Horse’s Spring of Olmeius, make
their fair, lovely dances upon highest Helicon and
move with vigorous feet.