I f you’ve ever seen the movie The Big Chill you’ll kind of get how I view death, and for that matter life.
chill
I saw her today at a reception
A glass of wine in her hand
I knew she would meet her connection
At her feet was her footloose man
No, you can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
And if you try sometime you find
You get what you need
From the soundtrack, a classic Stone’s number, full of little lessons
for life.
Oh yeah, hey hey hey, oh…
And I went down to the demonstration
To get my fair share of abuse
Singing, “We’re gonna vent our frustration
If we don’t we’re gonna blow a 50-amp fuse”
Sing it to me now…
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes well you just might find
You get what you need
Oh baby, yeah, yeah!
Adults need to be careful about what they tell kids, when my father died I took what was said to me to heart and tried to be the man of the house, all of 6 years old. My mom searched for my father via mediums, seances and the Church and then one day we just stopped talking about him, it was just too painful for her and though she instilled in us a faith and belief we never belonged to a Church again, it had let her down.
I went down to the Chelsea drugstore
To get your prescription filled
I was standing in line with Mr. Jimmy
And man, did he look pretty ill
We decided that we would have a soda
My favorite flavor, cherry red
I sung my song to Mr. Jimmy
Yeah, and he said one word to me, and that was “dead”
I said to him
So I am sure you’ll understand that my religious/spiritual beliefs were always going to be slightly unique. More about that later though, more about “man of the house”. Yeah my mother and I quickly formed this kind of co-dependency where she imagined that I needed to be protected because I was the “sickly, traumitised, emotional kid” and I felt I had to be near her to protect her and to stop her falling apart. Psychosematic, if somebody tells you it enough times you believe it.
In the company of women, that’s how I remember most of my childhood
and to this day despite my years in an all-boys’ high school, the army, working in a male environment mapping the wilds of Southern Africa and playing rugby for some 25 years I still prefer their company, and no, not because I’m hoping to get lucky!
You can’t always get what you want, no!
You can’t always get what you want (tell ya baby)
You can’t always get what you want (no)
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You get what you need
Oh yes! Woo!
By now you’re wondering why I’m telling you all this, what has it to do with art? I tell you that artists are reflected in their work, so knowing me will help you know my work. This year I have focused on feminist artists, and in particular, performance artists. Do you see where I’m headed?