March 16, 2019

Last evening, I attended a one-man performance by Ian McKellen at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre. He is, without a shadow of doubt, one of our greatest living actors. McKellen seized and held the audience from the moment he opened his mouth. It’s a power that comes from the artiste’s self-possession (their sense of presence unto themselves) – an inner energy and assurance that projects itself outwards and envelopes others. (This is nothing to do with charisma … which is merely a dazzling, winsome, and ultimately superficial charm.) McKellen’s gift, on the other hand, derives from decades of learning and plying his craft, as well as an accrued encounter with the best and worst that life can throw at a person. I’ve known only a few visual artists, musicians, and academics who’ve possessed it. (Or, rather, that’ve been possessed by it.) But such a capacity cannot be developed without discipline, experience, and the bearer’s willingness to succumb to the call.

9.00 am: storm and blossom:

9.30 am: Studiology. ‘Righty-o then, boyo!’ An assessment. Having reviewed all the album’s compositions late yesterday afternoon, I determined to cease work on ‘All Scripture’, at least as a CD track. What I’d already was sufficient and coherent. The additional composition would’ve added nothing of significance. Moreover, I couldn’t brush from my shoulder the ‘angel’ that for some time has been whispering in my ear: ‘This composition is for performance or installation only’. Now I believe in the wisdom of that advice. I’ll return to the project once the CD is in production.

Yesterday, Maria Chavez (a Peruvian sound artist and DJ whose work I’ve admired for many years) tweeted, following surgery that she’d received to treat a genetic and degenerating brain disorder:

An ‘existential threat’ (a phrase that’s been banded about often during the Brexit crisis) can sometimes entirely upend our sense of what we felt was important. Ars longa vita brevis [Art is long and life is short]. Reckon on it: your years may not be coextensive with your ambitions. And because our lives are measured, we may decide that other equally or more pressing matters require our attention too.

From the top … . I would, over the next few weeks, work through the album tracks to the end of creating a final mix. This project has taken a very long time to complete. Or, rather, it has been undertaken over a long period of time alongside other creative pursuits. But projects take either as long as they take, or as long as they’re given. First, the top and tail of the CD. In the background, I cleared the studio of equipment.

By 4.00 pm, the ‘Lead-In’ and ‘Tailpiece’ compositions were complete. Late afternoon, I addressed several email inquiries and finished putting away things:

5.20 pm: Close down.

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