Luminous
Welcome to another edition of my supposed-to-be-monthly-but-actually-more-like-six-monthly newsletter – but I guess we've all had quite a lot going on, right?!
How are you doing?
November is upon us, and England is about half-way through our second lockdown. I think it's fair to say that The Glums had descended. However, inspired by the Indian tradition of Diwali, which celebrates light triumphing over darkness, I cleaned the flat, strung up fairy lights, and lit candles. And then it hit me: we have to create our own light in our lives.
With galleries, theatres and cinemas all closed, I turned to my bookcases for inspiration. I pulled out my Aubrey Beardsley book from the Tate Britain exhibition that was mounted earlier this year, and poured over the illustrator's genius penmanship. Next was the painter Schiele, and his fabulous fusion of the grotesque and the beautiful. I also revisited fashion designer Alexander McQueen, and sat back to drink in some of his stupendously awe-inspiring creations. I leafed through a book about The Rolling Stones, and studied their rockstar audacity (when oh when will we have real rockstars again?). Finally, I watched the film Paris Is Burning on YouTube, which documents the underground 'ballroom' scene of 1980s New York City, in which marginalised cultures gathered to dress up as their fantasies.
I am fascinated by 1980s New York. I think it is because I am inspired by the way that this abandoned, crime-ridden city -- filled with decay, poverty, and deprivation, still managed to radiate with creativity. The spirit of the New York people refused to be crushed, and this defiance was channelled through their imagination, vision, and resourcefulness.
And so maybe, in these dystopian-pandemic times, we can take a cue from the likes of NYC and Diwali, and celebrate light triumphing over darkness.
