Biarritz! At last I was on the way, after as many promises as promptings, to see my friends, Miyuki and Steve. Calling me in London, Steve asked if I’d like to take part in a performance during my stay; the idea being to paint a large canvas to music in front of an audience, with Miyuki playing the piano alongside an American artist friend of theirs, Lesley Varela, and myself splashing the paint about the canvas. Good for an evening’s entertainment; an improvisation in colour and sound; I said, “Yes” straight away and thought about it later.

I had yet to meet Lesley but Steve’s reports were enough to think we’d get along, which we did, just fine.  As for the show, we knew what we were doing, the details we’d plan at the time. I took along some equipment we might need – long-handled brushes, pigments, stuff like that – and gave myself over to toying with the notion of an art performance. What is it? [Read more…]