I have a unique relationship with The Large Glass – Marcel Duchamp’s eccentric masterpiece officially known as ‘The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even.’ ‘La mariée mise à nu par ses célibataires, même’ – The Large Glass, for short, consists of two panels of glass with added materials such as lead foil, fuse wire and […]
Monthly Archives: January 2025
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
While I watched the Bob Dylan biopic ‘A Complete Unknown’ at the Picturehouse in Piccadilly, a couple of times tears misted my eyes. This morning, I got mail from my friend Jim Arnold who, by chance, had seen the film that same night and, he too, welled up in tears. Why? I am really not […]
THE LUCRETIUS PROBLEM
The Lucretius Problem is believing the worst thing that has happened is the worst thing that can happen. In the present age, a ridiculous assumption. This conundrum belongs to Titus Lucretius Carus, a Roman philosopher born a century before Christ and known for the iconic poem ‘On the Nature of Things’ – De rerum natura. He […]
NOT QUITE GOOD ENOUGH
Writers are haunted by the feeling that they’re not quite good enough. As soon as you compose a single sentence, doubt sets in. Does it need that adjective (probably not). Should it be two sentences, not one; more rhythmic, more alliterative? Less alliterative? Someone clever said the three secrets of writing are: editing, editing and […]