The Trojan Horse Series
This blog, and this series of 3 paintings, is about how somebody else's trauma, cowardice, lack of empathy, or some other character trait of theirs that you really don't want any part of, can be transferred to you via their creative work. Primarily I'm talking of creative people who're functioning now, although I use historical figures to illustrate my point, and you can certainly use this Trojan Horse idea to weed out figures from the past that you might otherwise fall under the spell of.
People can change, obviously. As illustration, if you ever chance upon any of the books I wrote as a young man, beware! They're worthy only as examples of what somebody might produce if they're thoroughly under the influence of British, Patriarchal, Capitalistic, propaganda. And of how an author might mislead you even if they're not trying to, with their superiority complex, lack of true empathy, and eagerness to impress the pillars of a racist society. Hopefully I'm well on the road to being a more trustworthy source of information these days.
It's often tricky to work out somebody else's motives, sometimes they don't even know them, but we can use their reaction to modern issues, especially the Gaza Genocide, to help guide us.
If they show solidarity with fellow humans and non humans worldwide, in their dress, speech, daily work or creative output, or even with a symbol in the bio of their social media, then I say give their work a look if the premise of it attracts you.
However, if somebody can see what's going on - the wholesale abuse of children, the slaughter of innocents, and we all can as long as we have an internet connection - if anyone can view that and not stand on the side of Palestine then we should really be wary of whatever they're putting out into the world.
If somebody reacts to knowing that Israel has a policy to shoot kids in the temple and heart by saying, so what, or, it's complicated, or, I can't talk about it publicly otherwise it may negatively impact my life or that of my family, then whilst you may feel sorry for them, and whilst they might even be a very decent person caught in a tough situation, you really can't trust them to respond to any other issue in a healthy way. Cowards will always be cowards, no matter the issue, same goes for those who lack empathy, or discernment.
That's not to say they can't redeem themselves. But that takes a very public admission of guilt, and an equally public making right what they've done wrong. If they do that, ok, they're back on track, but until that time, be wary of anything they say or do.
Hopefully, after over a year of the bulk of our media, politicians, and professional classes consistently trying to mislead us about Gaza, we can understand what we’re dealing with and be wary of those individuals and professions. But we must also be careful of the ones who’ve been silent.
The poets who haven’t complained about the abuse of language, or how the official Lingua Franca of ‘the west’ seems to have become Double Talk, the visual artists who haven’t complained about the slaughter of meaning, or any creative or supposedly spiritual person who’s not referencing in their work the various harms that the capitalists and colonists have been inflicting, worldwide.
Have they wrote about Palestine, donated their art to a benefit show, do they wear the Keffiyeh, clothing or badges with indigenous design or origin, do they post images of protests in their town, or…something? If not, beware. It's very simple to achieve moral clarity regarding Gaza, if they’ve not achieved it and used it to enlighten others then what do their fine words, images, or actions truly conceal? Either a lack of empathy, bravery, or discernment, at best. And anybody who lacks even one of these cannot truly to an artist, a teacher, or a seer, let alone be relied upon to deliver a trustworthy product.
No matter that they have a fine turn of phrase or paintbrush, that’s just fancy wrapping paper. Beware of them. I'm not hating on them, in the cases of most of the creative and spiritual people I used to know I can now see that they never promised me that they cared about anything other than their own life experience. If I loaded moral expectation on them, that's my fault. But I do require my cultural and spiritual input to have been created by people who are trying to be morally solid, and Gaza has given me a great opportunity to weed out the wheat from the chaff. So this isn't about hate, its about getting on with life in a right way, choosing the right people to listen to and dialogue with, putting the rest in the rear view mirror, and certainly not inviting them into your world any more where their failings can be delivered to you in a fancy package that might make them seem worthy of consideration.
The 3 paintings I've done in this series are mnemonic devices that remind me of this Trojan Horse warning and also of interesting journeys I’ve made in Greece.
No matter that they have a fine turn of phrase or paintbrush, that’s just fancy wrapping paper. Beware of them. I'm not hating on them, in the cases of most of the creative and spiritual people I used to know I can now see that they never promised me that they cared about anything other than their own life experience. If I loaded moral expectation on them, that's my fault. But I do require my cultural and spiritual input to have been created by people who are trying to be morally solid, and Gaza has given me a great opportunity to weed out the wheat from the chaff. So this isn't about hate, its about getting on with life in a right way, choosing the right people to listen to and dialogue with, putting the rest in the rear view mirror, and certainly not inviting them into your world any more where their failings can be delivered to you in a fancy package that might make them seem worthy of consideration.
The 3 paintings I've done in this series are mnemonic devices that remind me of this Trojan Horse warning and also of interesting journeys I’ve made in Greece.
The first shows 'The Monastery of Timios Prodromos at Stemnitsa', below Mt Lykaion, the birthplace of Zeus.
I first heard about My Lykaion in a report by the archeological department of the University of Pennsylvania, who’d done a dig there in 1996. Legend spoke of it being where our concept of the werewolf originated, and that human sacrifice had been carried out there in times that were thought of as ancient even by the people we call the ancient Greeks. There was an altar made of ash at the summit, and it was said that anybody who visited would die within the year. I had an enlightening adventure up there when I explored the mountain on my own one autumn, had perhaps a very close encounter with the god Pan during a fierce storm at night. That had sent me scurrying down the mountain at dawn, and that evening I camped within the ruins of Roman Gortys. I’d been woken by the song of a monk working the nearby fields, and he had directed me to the nearby monasteries.
The second painting shows 'Thales of Miletus in the Athenian Agora'.
In ‘The Phaedrus’, written by Plato, there’s a meeting between Socrates and Phaedrus. They walk out of the city, alongside the Ilissus River, wade across it, and settle in the grass beneath a huge Plane tree. Socrates compliments Phaedrus for leading them to such a delightful resting place, and Phaedrus responds that he’s surprised that Socrates didn’t already know the place. It’s almost as if he hardly ever sets foot outside the city walls.
“You must forgive me, dear friend,” says Socrates, “I’m a lover of learning, and trees and open country won’t teach me anything, whereas men in town do.”
This is a Trojan Horse awareness moment, when Socrates tells us very clearly that whilst he has a lot of intelligent sounding things to say ultimately his discernment cannot be relied upon. If you boldly state that you can’t learn from nature, your judgement is lacking.
Thales, on the other hand, was a pre-Socratic philosopher famed for stating that ‘All things are full of Gods’. In doing this he shows us that he's on the right path, that he’s likely not a Trojan Horse. Because of course we are all one, made from similar material, and if we are going to believe in Gods then it is wise to place them in nature (of which we are part) because doing so helps us to live sustainably, and with right action. And, as anybody who has even thought just a little clearly has discovered, nature has much to teach every one of us. The painting places Thales in the Agora, where Socrates used to lecture, and certain signs identify him as himself. Such as the solar eclipse (he predicted one in 585 BC), the writing on the temple - ‘Know Thyself’ - his most known statement, (according to the 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia the Suda, the proverb is both "applied to those whose boasts exceed what they are" and "a warning to pay no attention to the opinion of the multitude,”), and the golden tripod that was given to the wisest man in Greece, which Thales was awarded twice. In the sky you can see the Ursa Minor constellation, which Thales was noted as describing the position of.
In the sky you can also see 2 red snakes that represent the snakes sent by the gods to kill the Trojan philosopher Laocoon and his sons, when they argued against bringing the Trojan Horse into Troy. Before they could get their ‘It’s a Trap!’ message across, the snakes killed them. Another Iliad reference is the Athenian owl with multiple tails. This represents an omen mentioned in the Iliad, where another snake devours 8 baby sparrows (7 tails plus the owl itself) to depict how long the war would last.
The second painting shows 'Thales of Miletus in the Athenian Agora'.
In ‘The Phaedrus’, written by Plato, there’s a meeting between Socrates and Phaedrus. They walk out of the city, alongside the Ilissus River, wade across it, and settle in the grass beneath a huge Plane tree. Socrates compliments Phaedrus for leading them to such a delightful resting place, and Phaedrus responds that he’s surprised that Socrates didn’t already know the place. It’s almost as if he hardly ever sets foot outside the city walls.
“You must forgive me, dear friend,” says Socrates, “I’m a lover of learning, and trees and open country won’t teach me anything, whereas men in town do.”
This is a Trojan Horse awareness moment, when Socrates tells us very clearly that whilst he has a lot of intelligent sounding things to say ultimately his discernment cannot be relied upon. If you boldly state that you can’t learn from nature, your judgement is lacking.
Thales, on the other hand, was a pre-Socratic philosopher famed for stating that ‘All things are full of Gods’. In doing this he shows us that he's on the right path, that he’s likely not a Trojan Horse. Because of course we are all one, made from similar material, and if we are going to believe in Gods then it is wise to place them in nature (of which we are part) because doing so helps us to live sustainably, and with right action. And, as anybody who has even thought just a little clearly has discovered, nature has much to teach every one of us. The painting places Thales in the Agora, where Socrates used to lecture, and certain signs identify him as himself. Such as the solar eclipse (he predicted one in 585 BC), the writing on the temple - ‘Know Thyself’ - his most known statement, (according to the 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia the Suda, the proverb is both "applied to those whose boasts exceed what they are" and "a warning to pay no attention to the opinion of the multitude,”), and the golden tripod that was given to the wisest man in Greece, which Thales was awarded twice. In the sky you can see the Ursa Minor constellation, which Thales was noted as describing the position of.
In the sky you can also see 2 red snakes that represent the snakes sent by the gods to kill the Trojan philosopher Laocoon and his sons, when they argued against bringing the Trojan Horse into Troy. Before they could get their ‘It’s a Trap!’ message across, the snakes killed them. Another Iliad reference is the Athenian owl with multiple tails. This represents an omen mentioned in the Iliad, where another snake devours 8 baby sparrows (7 tails plus the owl itself) to depict how long the war would last.
Within the solar eclipse is the ancient Greek letter 'theta', the 8th letter of the ancient alphabet, which was known to represent bad luck, and death. It features both here and in the body of the comet of the third painting. Beware the Trojan Horse.
The third painting shows 'The resting place of Bruce Chatwin'.
This features a pinhole photograph I made of the Byzantine church in front of which the ashes of Bruce Chatwin were scattered by Patrick Leigh Fermor. The painting speaks about the difficulty of discerning the Trojan Horses. To some Chatwin was a master of prose with the ability to tell ‘a truth and a half’, to others he was a liar, a predator, and just another Englishman with a superior attitude. I was an admirer of Chatwin for decades and have only recently broken clear, so this is a reminder to me that I’m not to get too big for my boots when telling folk about Trojan Horses. I’ve been fooled often and will be so again, I'm sure. But that doesn't stop me looking out for warning lights and speaking of the process, the Trojan Horse theory.
The third painting shows 'The resting place of Bruce Chatwin'.
This features a pinhole photograph I made of the Byzantine church in front of which the ashes of Bruce Chatwin were scattered by Patrick Leigh Fermor. The painting speaks about the difficulty of discerning the Trojan Horses. To some Chatwin was a master of prose with the ability to tell ‘a truth and a half’, to others he was a liar, a predator, and just another Englishman with a superior attitude. I was an admirer of Chatwin for decades and have only recently broken clear, so this is a reminder to me that I’m not to get too big for my boots when telling folk about Trojan Horses. I’ve been fooled often and will be so again, I'm sure. But that doesn't stop me looking out for warning lights and speaking of the process, the Trojan Horse theory.
As I stated at the beginning of this blog post, rarely is it more possible in life to achieve moral clarity than it has been with the Gaza Genocide. Anybody who hasn’t been speaking out loudly in opposition to that clearly cannot be trusted, no matter how finely they wrap up their deficiencies. That’s not to say they’re consciously peddling harm, only that you should hang a big ‘beware’ around their metaphorical neck.
Elsewhere in this third painting there is Troy, and the Trojan Horse inside it. A comet is about to impact, all hell is about to break loose. The end of the world? It can seem like that when we get taken in by somebody with honeyed words. But the phoenix-like bird at the bottom of the painting, looking at the church, suggests that we can rise from the ashes. Once again it’s 7 tails plus itself reference the omen in the Iliad, yet this time it signifies hope rather than possible bad luck. As I painted the bird I was thinking of the poem ‘Phoenix’ by D. H. Lawrence. It’s not really relevant to the series of paintings other than to offer that hope I speak of. If you get fooled/burnt, and the lesson from the experience is learned, it'll hopefully be the start of an improved life experience.
Phoenix
Are you willing to be sponged out, erased, cancelled,
made nothing?
Are you willing to be made nothing?
dipped into oblivion?
If not, you will never really change.
The phoenix renews her youth
only when she is burnt, burnt alive, burnt down
to hot and flocculent ash.
Then the small stirring of a new small bub in the nest
with strands of down like floating ash
shows that she is renewing her youth like the eagle,
immortal bird.
D. H. Lawrence
Elsewhere in this third painting there is Troy, and the Trojan Horse inside it. A comet is about to impact, all hell is about to break loose. The end of the world? It can seem like that when we get taken in by somebody with honeyed words. But the phoenix-like bird at the bottom of the painting, looking at the church, suggests that we can rise from the ashes. Once again it’s 7 tails plus itself reference the omen in the Iliad, yet this time it signifies hope rather than possible bad luck. As I painted the bird I was thinking of the poem ‘Phoenix’ by D. H. Lawrence. It’s not really relevant to the series of paintings other than to offer that hope I speak of. If you get fooled/burnt, and the lesson from the experience is learned, it'll hopefully be the start of an improved life experience.
Phoenix
Are you willing to be sponged out, erased, cancelled,
made nothing?
Are you willing to be made nothing?
dipped into oblivion?
If not, you will never really change.
The phoenix renews her youth
only when she is burnt, burnt alive, burnt down
to hot and flocculent ash.
Then the small stirring of a new small bub in the nest
with strands of down like floating ash
shows that she is renewing her youth like the eagle,
immortal bird.
D. H. Lawrence
