Tuesday 23 January 2007

The Collective Soul Mood

www.goodaboom.com

Art Studio, Tuesday 23th January 2007

Allow me to introduce to you the painting which inspires me to write about the collective soul mood today. It is an aquarelle which I painted about 3 years ago in the context of a series about birds and inspired from the wonderful documentary film:
„The wind nomads“
(I may present this series to you one day in the 3D Gallery). I called it
„The Parrots Tree“
In fact the parrots are not parrots at all, as a French woman informed me in the Street Gallery two days ago: they are rather „perruches“. I knew this, but „perruches“ are in French synonyms for silly women, so I prefer to call them parrots and justify it with my right to artistic freedom!

I noticed that this painting is suddenly getting very popular since the beginning of the year, and on many occasions quite close to be sold. I noticed in the past, since I have been exhibiting regularly in the street (by the way a wonderful field of social behaviour studies, above all here where 40 different nationalities are represented!) that paintings underly a strange phenomenon similar to a fashion. „The Parrots Tree“ is a fantastic example of this. The fashion suddenly arises, people suddenly concentrate their look and enthusiasm on just one of my paintings, and this without being in any way connected to each other. I have no idea how that works: surely one of the unresolved secrets of evolution!
I understand how it works with products which are shown on TV for example, or in newspapers. A fashion may just be the result of massive indoctrination by people who recognise better than others the actual need of the collective soul. But how does it happen with my paintings?
Is it the result of a season related mood for some kind of colours, of themes, or techniques? Is for example the „Parrot Tree „ a kind of announcement of the spring? The parrots a kind of symbolism for blossoms? Or is it the fact that one doesn´t notice the birds at the first moment, which attracts people? Is the collective soul right now in a discovering mood? I really don´t know, have not even any theory –normally my speciality- about this phenomenon. If YOU have tell me: miki@goodaboom.com!
Normally such a fashion ends quite soon with the sale of the painting, and in short order a new one becomes the star. I wonder now who will tame the parrots, and which painting will next take the stage!

Anyway, it was a sunny, windless, almost warm day today in Albir, quite ideal weather for the Street Gallery. Many people were taking a walk along the beach and due to the weather, in an open minded mood, which is necessary to take the time to stop, look and enjoy my paintings. It´s always fascinating to see how the weather influences peoples behaviour. I have lived for a long time in three countries each representative in their own way of different weather types, and I can tell that peoples social behaviour is exactly a mirror image of the weather. But this is another story...
I was alone today, Kevin being in Mojacar gigging and installing a new bullfight exhibition. So I had to do the whole social thing alone, and it resulted in my spending the whole day babbling around with old clients, young clients, and hopefully future clients. I got many compliments, and there would be a lot of nice anecdotes to tell you about, but well, I haven´t got enough time to write, I must go on portraiting two Dutch kiddies.
I just want to mention that I even got the attention of a policeman... Strangely enough, he came walking from far away, where the police here normally never seem to leave their cars. I naively thought if he came walking, he might be interested in my art. I was just speaking to clients as he interrupted me:
„Do you have a permit for all that?
„Of course!““
„Can I see it?“
„I haven´t it with me here... but I´ve had for three years already“
He started explaining to me that such a permit must not be taken as guaranteed, and that I should regularly „refresh“ it.
„But I know, I did!“
Admittedly, this may only be partly true. One of the painters who was exhibiting with me in the past did in fact renew the permit that summer, but I´m not quite sure for how long, and I may really be an outlaw now! So I´ll have to go to the town hall and check it out... so if you don´t see me „working the street“ anymore, then you can be sure, that it is not because the weather impedes it... it will be more likely that the local government have decided that I´m no longer contributing to the wealth of the collective soul!



Above: Kevin´s illustration to this entry. Please forgive the policeman for his grammatical shortcomings...

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