Ah his radicalisation.
There were a few of those.
I knew of him and paid some heed but didn't go out of my way.
I can't put a date on it.... In such cases one works backwards as well as
following; but I did both a little indirectly. Obviously I read about the
serialism and Cage influences. I was a child then.
I began to be aware around Morley College - Scratch Orchestra, AMM
It was odd because I was crossing and recrossing his paths in the same few
square miles for some time.
I was never very sure of Comrade Mao or those who hero-worshipped him...
Cardew's rejection of "avant garde" didn't encourage me; by the time I
began moving towards intermedial approaches, mid 70s, he'd moved on...
I think it was 2000, yes that late, that I walked into the Union Chapel at
Highbury. I now have no recollection what it was that I thought I was going
to. It was a full blown workshop on The Great Learning; but it seems that I
was so overwhelmed by the reality that my brains were wiped of prior
knowledge.
I participated. & with enthusiasm. Gawd I learned a lot
And that took me to Germany some time later where we went here and there
talking about The Great Learning, performing bits of the Great Learning, et
cetera
I recall doing that in the Thomas Church in Leipzig and wondering if we'd
be lynched after. But they loved it.
er...
ask me another
L
On 23 December 2015 at 15:27, Max Richards <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> only recently did I learn of Cardew’s radicalization,
> so I wonder at what point he interested you, Lawrence, and for how
> long…and of course in what way...
>
> Max
>
> On Dec 23, 2015, at 7:23, Lawrence Upton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > I'm happy to. (I'll be shuffling off - hopefully not my mortal coil -
> into
> > internet silence for some days soon.)
> > In what sense?
> >
> > The actual exchange was bonkers. He said he knew what it meant; but
> didn't
> > know Kernewek / Cornish.
> > Like me I said.
> >
> > Just place name Cornish.
> > No he didn't know that.
> >
> > And then he went on again. With me saying no to almost everything.
> > Since I wrote that email, I checked myself against creeping doubt and
> found
> > that CC was born in Glucestershire and his father in London. His father
> had
> > been a highly praised student of Bernard Leach in St Ives and had moved
> to
> > Cornwall.
> >
> > So.... ? Do ask. If I can answer I shall
> >
> > L
> > Bear of little brain
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On 23 December 2015 at 15:06, Max Richards <[log in to unmask]>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Some time I should like you to tell us about your Cardew experiences,
> >> Lawrence,
> >>
> >> Max
> >>
> >> On Dec 23, 2015, at 3:37, Lawrence Upton <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
> >>
> >>> It being the ides of Christmas and my brain being a little dormant, I
> >> offer
> >>> a snapshot of where my head is: some recent ideas for t-shirt slogans
> >> that
> >>> I do not have the funds to realise
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> HOLE EARTH
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> and
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> PLEASE ASK FOR ASSISTANCE
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> (I did have, must still have somewhere, a t-shirt which said Kernow bys
> >>> vyken, or Cornwall for ever which I wore for annoyance value as much as
> >>> anything; but was then annoyed when figuratively buttonholed at a
> >> Cornelius
> >>> Cardew event by an enthusiast who insisted I was wearing it as a
> tribute,
> >>> Cardew having been born in Cornwall.)
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> or there's this from my Christmas e-card
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> “Good grief!” exclaimed Gandalf, “Don't you Hobbits listen to anything?
> >>>
> >>> We are in alliance with Mordor. Yes?
> >>>
> >>> Mordor has *our* best interests at heart. Yes?”
> >>>
> >>> “I thought –“, began Sam, but Gandalf silenced him by continuing to
> >> speak:
> >>> “I have tremendous admiration for Sauron even if I disagree on some
> >> matters
> >>> of policy.”
> >>>
> >>> “Surely –“, began Sam, whereupon Gandalf hit him across the bridge of
> the
> >>> nose with his staff.
> >>>
> >>> “No surelies, Sam. No thoughts. Now listen. I know I said once that The
> >>> Ring could be destroyed in Mount Doom; but no one seriously proposes
> that
> >>> nowadays; and certainly not Secretary of State Gollum. The Ring has
> kept
> >>> the peace these 500 years. The danger we face is from Ring
> >> Proliferation. I
> >>> hope I don't have to repeat myself again. To limit that danger we must
> >> bomb
> >>> Lorien. It's a clash of civilisation. It's their own fault.
> >>>
> >>> Frodo, stop fussing over Sam. Sam, I am sorry I didn’t use my staff in
> >> the
> >>> recommended manner, but it jams in this climate and only works as a
> cosh.
> >>> Frodo, get me some of that rough red wine and a lot of carbohydrate. I
> >> have
> >>> a big meeting tonight.”
> >>
>
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