showing, not telling. the gesture of the hand, already there in the mind's eye. don't try too hard. don't think too hard about not trying too hard. thinking is not hard. the path of least resistance. a kashmiri mantra.
'prepare, dwell in mistakes, recover form'. as ubo says, better to be late in this world than early in the next. listen to this(for)now. My heart is still, as time will tell.
~~~
I wonder if anyone listening to this found the constant references to his homosexuality slightly irritating? Years back, I think I did. But then again, you'd always been a bit suspect of the obsession with gossip and the emphasis on the personal or the psychological aspects of the artist rather than the art itself, a bit wary of the blurring of the lines between the private and the public (Sennett, Arendt).
And now? Well, it's interesting, if it had been a woman telling of her liasons how many of us (men) would have actually found that in some way titillating?
5 comments:
Well, b, their homosexuality was one of the defining features of all those related Beat poets Ginsberg is talking about. He's not telling us anything we didn't know, but the WAY in which he tells us is so frank and un-assuming I think it's very refreshing. In fact, it's almost strange to hear him sounding so calm, matter-of-fact and generally 'together'. Sad that he died so soon after this interview. But somewhat amazing that he made it to 70, given his track-record!
yes, I agree with you, C. I can see that it's important for him-and that's fine. It is, as you say, un-assuming. I guess I'm a bit old fashioned -even the language gives it away...what was once 'chic' is now 'sexy'!- and still think there's a place for decorum, though. I mean, all this prying into people's private lives adds what, exactly? I think in some cases it *is* interesting and in others it also throws light on their work/art. Maybe it is even 'defining' in some instances. I don't know.
My gripe here, however, is not with Ginsberg's replies (which is why i said I *was* slightly irritated by it years ago, not now) but this obsession with the trivial (for instance, the constant focus on personalities in politics rather than policies...Sennett's Fall of Public Man is brilliant on this).
I also think that there's a big difference when someone from a particular field interviews another person from that field. So, for example, Martin Amis's documentary on Bellow was great precisely because it was an 'inside job'. Isaacs misses a trick here, I think.
What I remembered most, something that always stuck in my mind, was his rendition of Sunflower and the moments of stillness.
It's hard to say who a good interviewer is, no? I still like Oriana Fallaci's interviews (despite her horrible personal views).
Thanks for the interesting comment.
Salaams,
b.
Hullo B,
I agree with Celia on the particularity of Ginzberg and his sexuality - he made it so much part of his identity as an artist. In general though I like your point about decorum. I think the reason homosexuality pops up in public life is due to the political activist project of making homosexuality banal and therefore more socially acceptable. While I personally (and politically :-) ) think that 'coming out' is very important, there is also a real danger of reducing people to a single aspect of their being and ossifying the categories that we created to classify aspects of human behaviour such as sexuality. And of course the person's actual accomplishments and human struggles are overshadowed.
Beth
Couldn't find any of Fallaci's interviews. Who has she interviewed?
Anyway, interesting discussion, this!
When I was very young, understanding little of sexuality – my own or anyone else’s –by chance I fell under the influence of André Gide.(Corydon, Les Nourritures Terrestres, L'Imoraliste etc.) I could see that his attachments and desires were all focused on young boys, but what I took in was the expression of tenderness and sheer joy in those attachments. Surely, that is what matters – love is not necessarily gender-specific?
But, what I THINK you’re getting at, and what I agree with whole heartedly, is the contemporary obsession with broadcasting one’s sexual identity, as if that were the MAIN defining characteristic of a person.(Maybe it is. Maybe I’m wrong here! See Wilhelm Reich e.g.) On the other hand, perhaps there’s a hang-over from the fact that until relatively recently homosexuality was illegal (here in UK, at least.) Also, I suspect that many gays enjoy feeling that their proclivities constitute some sort of counter-culture so they are justified in constantly asserting their ‘difference’.
As for Ginsberg, perhaps we could have done without QUITE so much of the nuts and bolts??
And re Jeremy Isaacs: John Freeman he aint!!
A bientot, mon ami!
hello, beth!
Yes, I can see what you're saying. I think it would be a mark of progress when:1) someone wouldn't feel the need to say or not say anything about their (homo)sexuality and 2) the saying of it isn't deemed important. When we stop being defined by *other* people (as 'British muslims,'say, or whatever sexuality) and/or along one dimension, then there's been some advancement.
C, yes, agree. There actually is quite a lot of tenderness in what G is saying-and that's the important thing (I think, anyway). Of course, there's also the showmanship: slept with thingy (tick) and Y (tick) etc., etc. My initial question was really to myself: if he hadn't been homosexual would I have still been 'slightly irritated'? Perhaps not.
counter-culture: good point. dunno, can only relate to that along race/ethnic lines where one always wants to see oneself as an outsider and yet, also, paradoxically, the same as everyone else, anonymous.
A few years i had this spat with David Goodhart, editor of Prospect about the Pakistani cricket team and he just couldn't 'get' why I, as a British Muslim, didn't support the England cricket team and never could.
on sheer joy of attachments I love what Iris M says: the quality of understanding is the quality of our attachments.
Take care both of you.
Salaams,
b.
p.s please don't mention the cricket..it's been a very, very depressing 24 hours.
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