Saturday 26th April

Posted on April 26, 2014 by karlhyde

WALKING WITH GHOSTS:

In a multi story carpark where Dad used to park the car

on family trips to 60’s London I saw an installation by

Richard Mosse, disturbingly soundtracked I enjoyed by

Ben Frost. Great venue for art & just up the same street

Tomato sailed it’s flagship in the 90’s.

The ghosts of our past lives wandered dazed in slow motion,

caught in the flickering light of the screens as I leaned

against the flaking concrete to watch and turn them into

lyrics.

Walked through friday night Soho whose revellers, subdued

by rain, crowded beneath awnings and branded umbrellas

smoking cigarettes with hangdog eyes & hunched shoulders.

All the bars knew my mark, the security guards nodded as

I passed, up Wardour Street, the Ship, turn right,

Oxford Street & the Tottenham Court Road Tube. These feet

could do it blind.

(K)

Friday 25th April

Posted on April 25, 2014 by karlhyde

DIFFERENT TRAINS:

Signed New paintings shipping out to Hong Kong for Art Basel

with the Jacobson Gallery on the way to another rendezvous with

music. The early and the late train carry silent passengers,

don’t give away lyrics for free. Lap tops popped, heads bowed

into spreadsheets, wires in the ears, distant expressions,

dining on high priced wraps & juices. I feel the need to get

in the car & drive, hear the road beneath me, radio surfing.

go off piste, jam on a different groove, follow a random map.

Back on the train, I look forward to every day, the company,

the challenges, the music. Sparking off ideas and continually

moving forward.

I’ve grown used to the silence of my fellow passengers,

it gives me time to read & think. The lady in the italian cafe

smiles every day when I call in for the morning pastries,

80’s pop music in the background as the tourists gather outside

pointing at all her delights. I slip out onto the street with a

hot paper bag & a pocketful of stories.

(K)

Thursday 24th April

Posted on April 24, 2014 by karlhyde

STREET SCULPTURES:

Last night, walking through Soho, enjoying the familiar rhythm

of my old manor, I was caught between two novice thieves.

As I talked to you through my hand held companion, one tried

to distract me, his synthetically wide-eyed expression was

a neon give away. Feeling a presence behind I stepped off the

pavement to utilise clearspace in the road.

“You keep repeating the same sentence” you said laughing,

I was talking on a loop, more aware of my back than your voice.

Turning around the ‘other’ geezer turned on his heels less than

a foot away watched by the first guy’s head cartoon pooping

’round the corner. Both calling loudly to each other like no one

else could hear, grazing the night streets for meat, money & the

next hit to get them through.

(K)

Wednesday 23rd April

Posted on April 23, 2014 by karlhyde

EVENING DRIFTER:

Late night office moves on rails, dinner of wraps, nuts & juices.

Carriages smell of printing ink & exotic meats, heads bowed into

lap top glows. Switched-off expressions, signs across the eyes,

‘Do not disturb’, headphones, no conversation. Two hours of travel

you ‘should’ use to work, catch up on all that other stuff you

couldn’t do during the day, but a mind needs rest, stop putting

out, slip into the drift zone & let good energy in.

(K)

Tuesday 22nd April

Posted on April 22, 2014 by karlhyde

ESCAPE FROM CARDBOARD CITY:

A scattering of unboxed fragments still cover the ground like

the aftermath of an accident – I feel like a man with a hangover.

Reliving these memories there’s lot’ve noise residue buzzing in

the head. Unearthed the itinerary from the first Japanese tour

in ’94 with the Drum Club. Papers a little stained, staples rusty,

but the memories all good with a lot of laughs as Essex rolled

East in search of a Breakfast it could recognise.

(K)

Monday 21st April

Posted on April 21, 2014 by karlhyde

FUELLED ON THIS:

These unpacked boxes continue to reveal concealed faces of

the people we used to be. Words written over decades

make me shudder, re-bagged, shredded or burned. Consigned

to shadow corners, buried in the earth until their resonance

is disarmed. It’s a radio & kettle day, a long trudge through

deep snow, one foot goes down in front of the other.

(K)

Sunday 20th April

Posted on April 20, 2014 by karlhyde

WHAT’S IN THE BOX?:

Unpacking years of hastily stashed mementoes, carrier bags

branded with exotica, burst with tour confetti, magazines,

photographs, key cards, AAA passes & hotel itineraries.

The shredder working overtime builds hamster paradise.

As the boxes empty the memories leap & dance around,

which to keep & which to shred? Things I never had time to filter,

stuffed into bags between flights & buses. Cover shots document

the evolution of two boys from Wales, a timely reflection

on past lives. Another twenty four hours should clear the lot,

a whole new room appears from the dust, cardboard reserves

replenished in the art studio, nothing wasted ( if only we had

a hamster). Listening to Metz to spark the plugs before the

thrill & pump of the morning ride, fresh air and adrenaline,

my cocktail of choice.

(K)

Saturday 19th April

Posted on April 19, 2014 by karlhyde

TRAWLING FOR ART FISH:

Trawling art galleries in chill sunlight, the Tate Britain,

giant installation, enormous piles of stuff roughly bound

with sticky tape and screws. Wasn’t sure at first,

but when we stood in the middle of it the nature of it’s

junk rhythm made our eyes sing. Caught the tube to the other

end of town, bustling, vibrant, knee deep in young beards

reclaiming the dirty alleys of the East End for their own,

coffee shops grow like weeds – but tasting better.

At the Whitechapel, more installations,video, film, photographic

documentation, good to be reminded there are more ways of making

marks than I remember. The experience excites us to work

with scraps, publish books of our photographs of 14 years

of found things, make more documentaries about backwater

places classified as mundane, create images out of billboard

scraps and see if our recent series of large canvases

will translate to water colour.

Of course, no trip to Brick Lane goes without calling in at

Rough Trade East where we picked up a vinyl copy of,

‘BALANI SHOW SUPER HITS’ – Electronic street parties from Mali.

Today, driving to the far north for a change. Restock the larder,

radio on, watching films unfold through the windscreen.

(K)

Friday 18th April

Posted on April 18, 2014 by karlhyde

ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE:

“What the hell was he doing till one O’Clock this morning!?

He’s away in New York, he’s away first week of the holidays,

I could’ve killed him! He gave me no break, rode off on his

motorcycle, just left me. He doesn’t get it, disappeared off

to work at the crack of dawn. First I saw of him was in bed

this morning!”

(K)

Thursday 17th April

Posted on April 17, 2014 by karlhyde

JUST BEFORE SPRING:

A man blows a whistle in the sun. People carry a chill wind,

dressed in black.

(K)

Karl Hyde

Category Archives: Diary