So Bowie's dead. Following on from Warhol in 1987 and Lou Reed in 2013, the trio of culture-shifting giants who changed our perception of the arts and influenced an infinite number of creatives is no more. But the world continues to be surprised when a celebrity dies. Not that it's not sad, or a loss for those that knew them, but i don't think it's possible to mourn for someone you don't know. Mourn the beginning of the end of their legacy, maybe, but not them. It's true that Bowie was a one-off, a game changer, etc. etc. But use this news as a catalyst for our own practices. Don't wallow in the mortality of a fictional friend, dwell instead on what they made and what they meant. With Warhol, Reed and Bowie now gone, we should be looking forward to the spaces left for us to place ourselves. The gaps between what is already there - between the insincerity, the voyeurs and the posers. Now is a time more poignant than ever to begin constructing communities of creativity, composed of artists who genuinely want to change what's around us. On a micro level in our towns and places of education (boredom, bollocks and misspending) and in the big picture the fear and the bigotry from the Daily Mail et al. No small task, but god knows we need something new.
LISTEN:
David Bowie - Oh You Pretty Things
Lou Reed - Walk on The Wild Side
Buzzcocks - Boredom
WATCH
The Story of Ziggy Stardust
LOOK
Tom Stockley - David Bowie
LISTEN:
David Bowie - Oh You Pretty Things
Lou Reed - Walk on The Wild Side
Buzzcocks - Boredom
WATCH
The Story of Ziggy Stardust
LOOK
Tom Stockley - David Bowie