Perhaps Like a Broken Record and Yet, Not

Like a Broken Record

and Yet, Not

Back in the old days of technology I learned how
to splice magnetic tape end to end to create an
endless tape loop. A tape loop only repeats.
The message is always the same.

Back in the old days of technology I learned how
to splice magnetic tape end to end to create an
endless tape loop. A tape loop only repeats.
The message is often the same.

No.
The message is always the same.

Sometimes it is necessary to repeat to get a point
across. Sometimes repetition is a weapon or a mantra, which
is anything like a weapon.

In those old days when tape loops were new to
me, they seemed a fresh experience, hypnotic, white noise that
could create a sound texture, something like a curtain or
screen to filter out the world.

When I work in my studio, I am alone with
my brushes and colors, cut off from the world by
a wall of sound. I hit the repeat button and
no distracting thoughts or sounds interrupt my concentration.

A visitor to my studio may find the repetitious audio
distracting. So, out of respect I turn it off. It
is unnecessary if I’m not painting.

This sound of a tape loop or broken record as
I work in the studio is merely a liberating and
useful tool, not unlike painting with the lights on.

To paraphrase John Cage; if after two minutes you find
something boring, try it four minutes, eight minutes, sixteen,
eventually you will be able to pick up the paint brush.

Another might hear a broken record where there is for
me a painting mantra.

Paris March 19, 2019

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