nny | Post for Del (Reply)

apiphile wanted to know what people like in terms of art, and I started talking and got to the point where I realised I was going to overspill the comment box and still not be done. So I'm saying it here instead, why not? You can all laugh at me incoherently rambling on art.

I will try not to be too long. And will try not to sound like an UTTER WANKER. I make no guarantees on either.

I love Giacometti, some of whose work I saw at the Tate Modern and instantly adored. I think what it is about it is that it's so pared down, like every little piece of extraneous material has been removed. It also... okay, this is already going to sound wanky and I apologise. It looks like what's left after... some kind of nuclear explosion, some huge destroying event. And the fact that what is left is recognisably human makes me think about the indomitable nature of the human spirit, if that makes any sense. It made me think about the similarities in religions and the fact that there's something that can be labelled as Good without faffing about what is or is not subjective, it made me think about souls, and it made me chirpy about life. I love his stuff.

I love Gilbert and George (life and death, both of which I have on my bedroom door) because, as I said to you earlier, they are unflinching in their honest portrayal of themselves. They're getting old and saggy, but they haven't decided to stop using themselves as art, and I love that about them. The honesty is what I aim for, and I'm not nearly there but their work is always a reminder of that. I can see why people choose to keep themselves tucked away, why they save themselves for one person or a small group of people, but I want to be me as honestly and as completely me as I can.

Quint Buchholz I love for his simplicity. As I've said before, his work makes me think about the sorts of kid's books that didn't patronise me just because I was short and still learning. I'm still short. I'm still learning. I still love Buchholz. I can't find my favourite piece of his online, which is two blokes in bowler hats holding hands, but Mann Auf Einer Leiter comes an exceedingly close second.

I adore Burne-Jones' angels. He did stunning work in stained glass in general, but his angels in particular are what make me gape. They are absolutely beautiful and stately and solemn, but without being twee or girly. I like angels who look as though they could wield a flaming sword. Angels are an enormous trigger of mine, I love to read about them or see art concerning them, but I absolutely hate cutesy guardian angels and... you know. Those books in the 'spiritual' section of Waterstones about angel visions and the like. My fascination with them is sort of an extension of my love of making supernatural things everyday... I like stories with angels who have sex, or smoke, or get grumpy. It's one of the very many reasons I love Good Omens - or Good Omens is possibly where this particular affection sprang from, I'm not sure. Either way.

Going on from that, of course, Banksy. He has a lot to say about the nature of art, a lot to say about the nature of the world, and I like and respect the way he does it. Sometimes he comes across as an up-his-own-arse wanker, but isn't that so frequently the nature of artists?

There's a hell of a lot more I could go into, I suspect, but it's getting really bloody late and I ought to get to bed. So a couple more things I like:

Sam Taylor-Wood. Antony Gormley. Frank Kunert's rendez-vous. Yves Klein, Le Saut dans le vide. Edward Hopper's Sun in an empty room.

And that's all I have time for, now.

Commence mocking!

Oh, and I forgot to say. All Milliways tags and comments I owe, plus the non-milliways email I promised, will be sorted tomorrow. I have a list.