I have spent much of the last 30-odd years,
and believe me, odd is a pretty good way of describing much of what has
transpired in my life, working within the field of art and science. I don’t
like describing myself either as an ‘artist’ or a ‘scientist’, but if an
‘artist’ is ‘someone’ who does ‘art’, and a ‘scientist’ who does ‘science’,
then I suppose I have been – and continue to be – both.
But there is an esoteric grey area where
art and science meet. This is called
magick. Magick is the idiot bastard son
of art and science; a discipline resulting in an esoteric brew of ritual,
theory, practice and belief. If a ‘magician’ is someone who does ‘magick’, then
– although I would never deign to call myself a magician – I know, and have
known, quite a few people who are. A
magician whom I have never met, but who, ever since I was given a bootleg tape
of 1987 What the Fuck is Going On? in
the year it was released has been, if not an influence on my life, most
certainly a mirror into which I peered, is Bill Drummond. For Bill Drummond is most certainly a
magician.
What?
Bill Drummond? You mean that
annoying bloke who did that bloody awful Dr. Who novelty song with Gary Glitter
Before the Fall, had a few hits, threatened to cut his hand off on stage at The
Brits, but ended up just dumping a dead sheep and a bad pun on the dorrstep of
the hotel where the Apres Show party was held, and then went off and burnt a
million quid? Yes. That
Bill Drummond. He is most certainly a
magician. Leaving aside the fact that
the very creation of music is a spiritual, if not a magickal, act upon itself,
something which – I suspect – Gonzo Daily
favourites like Michael des Barres will be the first to admit, what Drummond
does, and I suspect always has done, is far more conventional magick (if that
is not an oxymoron).
His recent work with a choir that only a
choir themselves can hear is classic formative thaumaturgy. It is creative
ritual of the highest order as well as excellent art. Other of his recent work is essentially
geomancy, and if – as I have done – you read his written works over the years,
much of what he has done including during his glory days in the hit parade with
the KLF have been much of the same.
Recently he issued two limited edition
books. One is called Ragworts and I can’t tell anything about
that because it is so limited an edition I haven’t been able to get hold of it
….. yet. But the other book 100 (which I did manage to get hold of)
is yet another extraordinary edition from the Drummond canon. Like many artists, Drummond says that he has
come to find the routine of interviews and publicity which has become the des rigueur within all media, and to
which - although I try to play games with form and play around with composition
ideas – I have to admit that I have been contributing to a greater or lesser
degree for the past three decades or more.
So he decided to try to reinvent the concept of the celebrity
interview. He made it known that he
would be interviewed by anyone as long as they followed the following criteria:
- He would only answer four questions from each interviewer
- They had to be questions he had never been asked before
- The interviewers had to give permission for the questions and answers to appear in the aforementioned book, 100
The results are fascinating, intriguing,
often irritating and veer between aesthetic and self-indulgent – in short
everything that one has come to expect from Bill Drummond and his art in the
25-years (yes, count them) since All You
Need is Love and Don’t Take Five,
Take What You Want.
I really cannot recommend this book highly
enough. If you only buy one book this
year make it this one. It is available
online if you look hard enough. I am not going to tell you where to look
because that would be against the rules, and magick - like science, and unlike
art - is all about rules.
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