Mar 10

I went to Tate Modern to see their special exhibitions. My favorite was Duchamp, Man Ray, and Picabia. They were good friends and also artists, so they worked together (starting about 1915) and inspired each other throughout their careers. They all had a great sense of humor. Duchamp once wrote his name on a urinal and called it "fountain". People at that time found it unsettling, but it's a piece that is considered to be a turning point in what can be considered art. He also created a female alter ego and signed many of his works under her name. But most famously, in 1919 he drew a mustache and goatee on a reproduction of the Mona Lisa and wrote "L. H. O. O. Q." If you say this out loud in French it translates to "she has a hot ass."

There was also an exhibition by Juan Munoz which was really good. Most of it was grey sculpture of humans. One room was completely full of smiling and laughing men. It was set up in a way that looked like they were separate groups, laughing about stories, or one talking to another, never isolated. It was great, the atmosphere of the room felt good as you walked in. Every person, upon entering the room, couldn't stop smiling. I liked it.

Mar 11-14

I've just been working and cleaning out the Diorama. We are still there, and squatting. We were supposed to be out about a week ago, but Mark knows the security guards for our area and they said we could stay and they would let us know before they turn the power off. With the price of office space in central London we are going to stay as long as we can. We've also been working on the summer festival off and on.

Mar 14

Tonight I went and saw Neil Young at the Hammersmith Apollo. I got there a little early because I didn't know where I was going and stood in front of the doors for a while. They opened the first doors and let a bunch of people in the lobby area with the shirts and bar. We stayed in there for about 40 minutes before they opened theatre doors, so they made a lot of money by doing that. I got an awesome shirt with the dates and theatre on it. Pegi Young, his wife, opened for him and played for about 45 minutes. She was really great, played folk rock with a little blues and country. I liked her a lot.

Then Neil came out and played for about an hour and a half just him by himself. There were about 10 guitars and 4 pianos on the stage and a case of harmonicas and he just wandered around the stage between each song, thinking about what he was going to play next. He did all acoustic (and solo) and sounded fantastic. He also had a man painting big pictures throughout the entire show, even when he went for a 20 minute break. Then they hung them up on a big canvas after each one was done, every few minutes. The theatre's acoustics were perfect, it really almost sounded like you were listening to a record, there was hardly any echo. He took a break and came back out with his band to play another hour and a half electric. And it was so great. Neil doesn't really show off his talent on the guitar much on his records, its more about the message for him I think, but tonight he really got into some great guitar solos. I was impressed. And his vocals sounded better than on the record. They jammed for about 25 minutes solid at one point which was great. I mean he is just an awesome guy, and I cant tell you how much I loved seeing him live in London. It was one of the best shows I have ever been to, and one of my very favorite artists. I am so glad that I got to see him.