The other night I was sitting in a night train to Copenhagen from Hamburg. It’s been a while since I have taken the train at night but in an attempt to save both time and the world I ended up in one. I can’t sleep while in any transit be it car, plane, train or boat since I am too tall to sit comfortable. Do transport vehicle designers hate tall people? I hope the flying sun-panel driven pods that we fly in the future are larger so I dont have to lay curled up in a white apple looking flying plastic pod?
So I have to sit and think for 6 hours in the sharp LED light and look out at the dark recently harvested fields. That can be productive or non productive. A bit of both. First off I had to think of David Berman who passed away recently. He was one of my favourite poets and musicians. I was walking along in St. Pauli and saw all the punks with their beer cans, mutty dogs and 80’s haircuts. Nose rings and Dr. Martens. So out of fashion and yet so fashionable. David Berman sings about them in the song “Punks in the beerlight” that also treats highly relevant topics like fentanyl and Adam and Eve. So whenever I see a one of those german punks I have to think of David Berman and these lyrics:
Where's the paper bag that holds the liquor?
Just in case I feel the need to puke.
If we'd known what it'd take to get here,
Would we have chosen to?
Would we have chosen to?
So you wanna build an altar on a summer night?
You wanna smoke the gel off a fentanyl patch.
Ain'tcha heard the news? Adam and Eve were Jews.
And I always loved you to the max.
Then my thoughts shifted to churches and church ceilings. I guess - maybe the trail of thought was kind of from the perspective of laying in a coffin and looking up. Which probably explains why churches that only carry closed coffins often have very boring ceilings. The churches that carry a more open coffin style have very beautiful ceilings. Me and the family stayed in a presbytery (the home of a priest (the priest didnt live there anymore)) in June in France. The ceiling was a dark indigo blue and someone had painted yellow golden stars on there. It was very nice to sleep under and prompted me to plan to paint our own ceilings in our bedroom but I’ve been too busy and the fact I need a scaffold to lay in order to paint it has put the project on hold but it will happen.
This picture kind of carry the ceiling I have in mind. I didn’t take the picture but its from “The Institure for Western Civilsation” and I would like to credit them for it. It’s from the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua in Italy and painted by Giotto. Thats the same Chapel that has “The Kiss of Judas” in it which is just an amazing painting really. The drama. A kiss followed by execution. And time has been kind to the blue sky with its grey scratches.
Anyway the church ceilings are now making their way into my paintings or at least they are in my head while I paint. Things enter the mind and have to be painted out again. I guess if one didn’t paint they would just stay in there and take up space. Clear clear sky.
If one is in the mood one can look at Giottos “Kiss of Judas” and listen to Margaritas at the mall by David Bermans “Purple Mountains”. Or just read the lyrics and look at the painting. It’s an original contemporary experience.
Margaritas at The Mall
Drawn up all my findings and I warn you they are candid
My every day begins with reminders I've been stranded
On this planet where I've landed, 'neath this gray-as-granite sky
A place I wake up blushin' like I'm ashamed to be alive
How long can a world go on under such a subtle God?
How long can a world go on with no new word from God?
See the plod of the flawed individual looking for a nod from God
Trotting the sod of the visible with no new word from God
We're just drinkin' margaritas at the mall
That's what this stuff adds up to after all
Magenta, orange, acid green
Peacock blue and mercury
Drinkin' margaritas at the mall
Standin' in the shadows of the signposts on the road
Fifty gates of understanding, forty-nine are closed
Yes, I guess this time I really hit that number on the nose
What I'd give for an hour with the power on the throne
How long can a world go on under such a subtle God?
How long can a world go on with no word from God?
See the plod of the flawed individual looking for a nod from God
Trotting the sod of the visible with no new word from God
We're just drinkin' margaritas at the mall
This happy hour's got us by the balls
Magenta, orange, acid green
Peacock blue and mercury
Drinkin' margaritas at the mall
We're drinking margaritas at the mall
Drinkin' margaritas at the mall
By David Berman (1967-2019)