Thursday 9 June 2011

Vanishing Art

Warning: Another blog about art and its relation to death and loss! Sorry. I wouldn't say that those are the two things most on my mind, because they're not, but they are often motivators for me to write. I often write in weird solemn moods, which is another problem with my music. I can seem like such a sad sack, but it is because sadness for some reason leads to expression for me. But that is only within writing and music. It is usually feeling active or direct inspiration from something else that makes me want to draw or animate. That's kind of weird to me.

I just felt like writing what a tragedy it is that Elliott Smith died when he did. From a Basement on the Hill was probably his most interesting and inspired period of song writing and experimentation, and it's really horrible that it was never finished. The version released is a fragment, a rough stitching of a few incredible ideas. Then we have some of the amazing unreleased tracks from it: See You In Heaven, True Love, Stick Man.

But the version he was going to create, that kind of White Album inspired thing will never come to pass, most of the songs were never finished, and any concrete idea of what it could have been vanished when that knife went in his chest.

The thought of something like that being lost in an instant is definitely a powerful force in making me document my thoughts, art, music etc. Sometimes it is a comfort that something is within my brain and is mine and only mine. But I feel uncomfortable over the thought of it being lost.