Iain Cameron's Diary
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2003-11-10 - 9:42 a.m.

My tax bill arrived more�s the pity.

I have heard a couple of tracks recently from June Tabor�s new CD both of which really grabbed me. Paul Wheeler mailed � Red Blues is going well.

Dipping into Tom Johnson�s ideas about patterns for music reminded me about Douglas Hoftstadter who I thought might cover similar ground. I looked at Godel Escher and Bach and decided I didn�t understand it � I wondered if I ever did. As far as I am concerned, Hofstadter should have spent more time on fewer ideas. I could do with someone taking the idea of �code� apart, for example. Godel is all about how far you can take an arithmetically based code. I wonder how certain codes come to dominate our thinking so that we think that they are natural or especially meaningful. The dual aspect of a code with some kind of structural link � logical homology. Some people used to think we were hard wired to predispose us to certain codes.

Browsing one of Regan�s books I came across an entry about Roger Penrose � he tries to generalise from Godel to the broad truth that no programme can truly reflect on its own rules � an argument against materialism perhaps, an ambitious one. I think it was this that struck me about the coaching methodology that came up this week � setting up a project to improve one�s management of projects.

The genetic code doesn�t improve itself in this way � it uses natural selection. And it doesn�t clean out its old stuff � we carry lots of code which is no longer relevant at all. In lean manufacturing waste is always being eliminated, by contrast, via a learning loop with involves the curious step between checking and trying again. That transition is an opportunity for Penrose-style reflection, sometimes called double loop learning � not be confused with the double helix.

Satueday morning, I spent some time this searching for a symmetrical musical pattern in between two equal and opposite six note chords. It took me ages to find some kind of pathway and who knows if it will stick in mind. I like abstractions but get worse at handling them. Eventually I found what I thought was an answer � but I expect I�ll keep fiddling around. I began to wonder how various relationships which I am trying to find can be expressed in diagrams. That led to the idea of whether there should be some kind of structure for developing ideas � over and above occasionally inflicting the thoughts on the world through this channel.

There is a semi-fashionable idea around this � knowledge management � and in fact on Friday I met a couple of people who are working of a KM project in metrology � which I enjoyed, partly because I felt I was at least holding my own. Symmetry is a kind of knowledge management heuristic. We seem to like patterns of description which embody symmetry which means that we use high level rules to bring together apparently diverse phenomena.

I went to the National Gallery to look at the Bill Viola exhibition � The Passions � on Saturday afternoon. It was very popular and initially this put me off � its in the basement of the Sainsbury Wing and some of the rooms have very low light. Eventually the biggest piece began to absorb my attention especially the elemental aspects and especially the chaotic patterns in the elements � and their dual aspect. In fact come to think of it, all the Viola pieces that I have liked featured water. There�s a good one here where a man and woman�s image are seen through reflections. There has been some comment about Viola�s use of actors to portray extreme emotions and you have to find some way round that to stop it being a barrier. Its not quite as truly forensic as the title suggests. I thought of some of the early Video Acts pieces where the artist put herself in a vulnerable and tense situation in front of the camera.

Viola�s work is now very glossy but refers back to the Old Masters � two characteristics he shares with Cindy Sherman. He too, like her, has become a brand. There is a 15 minute film where he explains his objective of getting outside the normal grammar of mainstream media � but that is how his message is communicated in this film � indeed the whole thing is wrapped up in art-biz clothes. But its well worth a visit and you need more time than you might imagine to get the measure of more than two or three of the works. I�ll try to fit in another visit.

I didn�t get any more Viola-product though I was tempted by the compilation of early works that includes the Reflecting Pool. I came a collection of Richard Cook articles about art in the 80s which I had been tempted by a few weeks back and succumbed. It was with a companion volume about the 70s but I managed to resist that. My copy is signed by the author.

Last night I had the sense to record two hours of new music from Radio 3 off air digitally. A lot of the material comes from Gavin Bryars� 60th birthday celebrations. They broadcast a chamber music performance from Estonia and some interview � he talked about how he gave up improvisation because of the way that Cage�s ideas were taking root and how he became interested in how pieces are conceived. He used to play in an improvising band with Tony Oxley (who played on the first John Maclaughlin album, Extrapolations) and Derek Bailey. The broadcast included a small extract of their reunion gig. Bryars is friends with Arvo Part � so he�s another musician like Paul Hillier who combines an interest in Part and Cage.

He studied philosophy in Sheffield in the 60s � there�s quite a cluster of new music in that area, including Mick Beck for example who kicked me into the 20th century. Bryars refers to his interest in the harmonic series and he uses low harmonically rich pitches a lot � cello, bass, fuzzy guitar. I feel my Bodyspace Lament doesn�t shape up too badly in comparison � this is the last substantial thing I completed.

I am listening to Music of Changes � in small units. You could just say it was too difficult � or you could see it as part of a chain from Leibniz through Willhelm, Jung, Christian Wolff, to Cage and David Tudor. A chain which runs on through Tudor to Bill Viola via Tudor�s Rainforest Project.

I read the Richard Cork review of a Michael Kennedy-Martin exhibition from 1989.He is part of the bridge from the New York scene of emerging conceptualism and minimalism to Damien Hirst.

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