Forms and Chaos– Now at the West End Gallery
So I wish you first a
Sense of theatre; only
Those who love illusion
And know it will go far:
Otherwise we spend our
Lives in a confusion
Of what we say and do with
Who we really are.
― W.H. Auden
The new painting above, Forms and Chaos, is one of those pieces that I would consider for myself more than anyone else. It’s one of those paintings about which I have little concern how it is perceived by others, have no expectations for its acceptance or appreciation or the possibility of it finding a new home.
It may have meaning to it that words might point out but I don’t need them and don’t want to do anything–explain it, interpret it, defend it– beyond simply showing it.
It has no illusion. It just is what it is and that is all I need to know.
Maybe the shedding of illusion is how one persists through chaos.
I don’t really know.
And this morning, I am just going to let it be as it is.
Here’s a favorite song that I haven’t played here in a long time. I was reminded by its use in the TV ads for the new sci fi/horror film Nope. The version they use is not the 1970 original from The Temptations. The film instead uses 1971 remake from The Undisputed Truth, which was a group that was formed and managed by songwriter/producer Norman Whitfield.
You probably don’t know the name but Whitfield wrote or co-wrote many of the greatest hits of the Temptations and others, including “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg”, “(I Know) I’m Losing You”, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”, “Cloud Nine”, “I Can’t Get Next to You”, “War”, “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)”, “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)”, “Smiling Faces Sometimes”, and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone”.
There are many more but that, by itself, is quite a playlist.
The Undisputed Truth was formed by Whitfield as an effort to branch out into what he termed Psychedlic Soul. which employed different production techniques, effects, and instrumentation than the Motown Sound of which Whitfield was one of the original creators. His group covered many of the songs he had written for the Temptations and enjoyed moderate success though never truly to the level of the originals.
Though I prefer the Temptations original, the version below from The Undisputed Truth is still really strong. How can you not love a song that says:
Oh, great googa-looga, can’t you hear me talking to you
Just a ball of confusion
Oh yeah, that’s what the world is today
Redtree Times 