Followwhen I was in Hyderabad..
in the middle of the festival of Barkri ‘Id..
a festival where the Muslims celebrate Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice Ishmael..
but he doesn’t..
Allah intervenes and a goat is slaughtered
instead.. in Hyderabad..
there were goats everywhere
… 100 000 of them.. lining the street..
seamlessly with people.. all over…
.. in/on laps just all over.. and it was
a beautiful visceral thing
humanity was seamless with the animal..
all aspects happened in front of your eyes..
the slaughter..
the herding..
the boy leading
the goat.. sharing
a seat on an overloaded truck.. there was a goat…
not like here.. where the animals that serve us
for food.. don’t really exist
they are far away …
we see
them as neatly wrapped up things on supermarket shelves…
safely away
from our children.. we grow up
detached..
safe..
and it is not safe…
we need to know our animals again…
we are part them.. we are not
some separate thing .. …
and we need to share space and intimacy with them again..
so we can learn how to feel..
Sometimes there are Flocks of fish ‘n
Birds in my Brain
And sometimes it’s
Just an Empty cage
I like the noise My captives make
It’s company for my fishy me
Or do they just peck for free
Up down there from my
Fishy tree
I / who? am excited
by all the occupants of
my brain
some I know..
some I don’t
some I see on
the streets
some are my friends..
I know them
they know me
it can get specific..
Cezanne was in my brain
while I was in India
Chagall was there for
my last painting
they / we are all
bit players in
my brain
it sometimes makes me
uncomfortable that
I am stealing but then
I AM them
and THEY are
me
as are you
and I me
(it’s all a matter of resolution)
theft in art.
is.
impossible…
———
meet some bit players that I know:
I was thinking about
my exhibition
about all the personalities
that make me up……
.. when another one
landed right there
in the middle
of my notebook
(and for the hard of reading):
I transcribe:
oh dear sweet
notebook may you
be a portal to
unlock a whole
bunch of the
universe’s mysteries
if ok by you can
we – in this one –
mainly focus on
those bits right
in front of my
eye that are
a bit too hard
to see
tx
S(I’d)teve